


Stargazer

by bane_xo



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Best Friends, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Flowers, Fluff, Idiots in Love, M/M, Mutual Pining, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Tattoos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-28
Updated: 2017-01-01
Packaged: 2018-09-12 23:27:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 21,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9095371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bane_xo/pseuds/bane_xo
Summary: A tattooed man came to his shop almost everyday. He never bought anything. Sugawara was charmed.





	1. The Dreamy Tattoo Man

**Author's Note:**

> It's been over a year since I've last written anything. Which makes me terrified to publish this. But I am ready for the critics. 
> 
> I have to say though: I am not a native english speaker so my grammar can only do so much. I have a spell checker on my computer but... Well, I hope you can enjoy this despite the possible grammar mistakes. 
> 
> *bows*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been over a year since I've last written anything. Which makes me terrified to publish this. But I am ready for the critics.
> 
> I have to say though: I am not a native english speaker so my grammar can only do so much. I have a spell checker on my computer but... Well, I hope you can enjoy this despite the possible grammar mistakes.
> 
> *bows*
> 
> 03/01/2017  
> Edit; I editing this entire work since I am making this into series. I was not happy with this. I will only edit my way of writing, tweaking it and such. Story will not change. Some things might be added and some scenes deleted but the outcome will be the same no matter how much I edit this. Sorry for the inconvenience. *bows*

“He has a lot of tattoos.”

“I can see that,” Sugawara sighed quietly, looking at a man standing in front of white lilies. Gorgeous. The man, who had a lot of tattoos, came by quite frequently. He never bought anything. He never asked for help. He sometimes glanced over. Suga didn't want to bother him either. The man was always in a deep thought. He admired the flowers with his soul, Suga thought. “Do you think he’ll finally finds the courage to buy one?”

Hinata shook his head. His orange hair blended nicely with all the flowers in the shop. Hinata had been working with him since the shop had been opened. The younger one needed the extra money, taking care of his sister and going to college was not easy.  “I don’t think he actually likes flowers. Look at his tattoos. There’s no way he likes flowers. He’s probably in a gang or something,” he whispered.

“Hinata!” Sugawara chastised him gently. He slapped Hinata’s forearm and ushered him back to work. Hinata had his moments. So did Sugawara. “Come on, the roses! They need-”

“Fresh water, yeah yeah,” Hinata drawled and walked towards the left side of the shop. He stuck out his tongue at Suga, just for good measure.

Sugawara sighed quietly, letting a small smile slip to his face. He turned back towards the register and jumped at the sudden customer in front of him. The Dreamy Tattoo Man. Sugawara tried to regain his composure. His arms. Oh dear, his arms were full of tattoos. He was sure that was a really big dragon. Oh dear, oh dear, those were some muscular arms. No, get it together Sugawara Koushi. He had no intention flirt or start a relationship with anyone. He took a deep breath and tried to get his eyes to meet-

“Are you okay?”

“Yes!” Sugawara squeaked. That came out wrong. Suga was embarrassed. He sounded like a mouse. He could feel the heat starting to bloom on his cheeks. “I mean,” he coughed and smiled, “Yes, I am fine. Sorry to worry you, sir. Did you need our assistance?”

“I'm glad you're fine,” the man in front of him chuckled and smiled gently. Charming. Gorgeous. Sugawara needed to stop. “I was wondering if you had...” he mumbled and went through his jeans’ back pockets. The man fished out a small paper that had neat scribble written on it. Sugawara thought it might be woman’s handwriting. “If you had this flower called ‘Stargazer’?”

Sugawara hummed in thought. “I believe we may have some in the back. They are not often requested,” he said apologetically. “How many would you like? Are they a present for someone?”

The brown haired man visibly stilled. Sugawara thought he might have said something extremely wrong. “Ah, well... It’s just that, I’d like to see them,” he murmured shyly, looking at his feet. It was so adorable Sugawara tried not go all 'aww' on him. That would not be appropriate. “I’m not much of a flower pers- I mean, I like flowers, but-”

“It’s okay,” Sugawara laughed and motioned the man follow him. He was a little bit bummed. He thought the man would finally buy one from Suga. Suga could wrap it nicely or... Anything at all for the Dreamy! The man has been coming here for at least two months. “Sometimes just looking is all you need. We are here to serve after all. Whether it’s just for relaxation or shopping,” Suga explained in a gentle tone. He heard the man hum quietly behind him.

“Maybe I’ll buy something one day.”

Sugawara smiled inwardly cheered and opened a door in front of him. He looked around for couple of seconds until he found what he was looking for. “Stargazer,” he mumbled quietly, taking one out from the vase. “We have so many flowers that we simply don’t have enough space for all of them,” Sugawara explained kindly. He thought they might have to start moving summer flowers out to the back sooner or later. Autumn was coming and no one wanted to have violets or bachelor's buttons. “Since we’ve been here for only three months, the business has been tough. Oh, I am Sugawara Koushi, by the way. I feel like we should at least know each other’s names by now.” he rambled as the man on front of him tried to memorize every tiny detail of the flower.

“Sawamura Daichi,” the other man offered, not taking his eyes away from the flower. “This flower is actually quite enchanting. Could you tell me more about this? Does this have some special meaning or story behind it?”

Sugawara scratched his head as he thought about Daichi’s question. He had not been prepared to be asked questions about the flower. “I actually don’t remember too much about this one even though it’s probably one of my favourite ones in the entire shop. But it does have a message I will never forget.”

“And that is?”

“Keep your eyes on the heavens instead of always staring at the ground. Stay positive and watch as the world changes around you.”

 

* * *

 

Sugawara closed the register. The day had been surprisingly busy after Daichi had left Suga’s little shop. Hinata had knocked over two vases full of roses while he had been in the back with the Dreamy Tattoo Man. According to Hinata, he had had no time to man the register, because apparently he had been too busy salvaging the roses he had knocked over. It was a good day nonetheless. Sugawara made sure everything was in place before he decided to head out and lock the doors. “Ah, the evenings’ are getting cold,” he murmured as his feet started to carry him home.

He passed an old pub, that was only starting to wake up for the evening. Sugawara glanced at his phone for the time. “Already nine?” he whined quietly. True, Sugawara worked ridiculous hours at the flower shop. It was called ‘Sugary Flower’. Corny? Yes. It had been Hinata’s idea, but somehow Sugawara had come to love the name, during these past three months. Suga spent most of his time in the shop, basically slave working, except he owned it and was also slaving Hinata. But Hinata was a student, so he could not be there all the time. Which meant that Sugawara had to cover all the missing hours from Hinata.

Sugawara stopped in front of his apartment’s door and took out his key. He unlocked the door carefully. Then he pushed the door up just a little, twisted to the right, and opened it smoothly. “At least I don’t have to worry about being robbed,” Suga smiled as he closed the door with the same effort. He was greeted by a small ball of fur that left a nice line of white hair on his black jeans. “Gosh, Tinkerbell. I know you’re hungry, no need to rub it in me,” he laughed and walked straight to kitchen, fishing out some cat food from a small cupboard.

“KOU-CHAAAAAAN!”

“Of course,” Sugawara sighed. He had just gotten home. How come he was never able to have some well-deserved sleep? Sugawara filled Tinkerbell’s bowls with food and water, listening to the banging at his door. “Could you wait for one second?!” he yelled softly. Sugawara breathed a sigh of relief as the banging calmed down to a miserable knocking. Miserable, that was one way to describe his quest. “The door is open,” he singsonged as he stood in front of it, grinning from ear to ear.

“For the love of everything that is holy, your door is just as refreshing as you are, you-”

Sugawara opened the door with a bright smile. “And what do I owe this pleasure, Tooru-kun?” he asked sweetly. “I just got home from 12 hour shift-”

Oikawa strode in and collapsed into Suga’s arms. Quite dramatically. “You don’t know my pain, Kou-chan. Iwa-chan is working late and I just hate when he does that,” he mumbled, and tried to fake tears. Sugawara was confused. Oikawa was playing him again.

“Iwaizumi doesn’t even-”

“Oh, but he does! He will! Someday,” Oikawa sighed and straightened himself. He sniffled loudly, making sure Sugawara had heard it. “He will move in with me someday,” he declared.

Sugawara closed the door after Oikawa had composed himself. “If I were you, I’d really **do** something about it. You know? Ask him out casually,” he said, walking towards the fridge. He threw a can of soda towards Oikawa, who managed to catch it without a problem.

Oikawa narrowed his eyes as he sat down on a comfy sofa at the living room. He turned on a large TV on the wall. “You know, you’re not exactly the best person to give that kind of advice, Mr. I Am Charmed By The Dreamy Tattoo Man,” Oikawa snapped from his seat and opened the soda can, making sure not to spill it anywhere.

“His name is Daichi.”

“Oh!” Oikawa hurled around on the sofa when Sugawara came out from the kitchen. “So you asked him out? You’re kidding me. Awww, Kou-chan is growing up so quickly.”

Sugawara sat next to Oikawa, taking a sip from his lemon soda. “I did not,” he admitted and changed the channel. Maybe a horror movie? Oikawa would be thrilled about that. Not in a good way.

“So you just asked his name out of the blue without a tinge of creepiness to it?”

The silvery haired man blushed visibly, remembering his sudden rant at the backroom. “He asked me about a flower and I just, you know, introduced myself. Very casually.”

Oikawa snorted and looked towards the screen. Sugawara was definitely trying to make him feel uncomfortable. Okay, he could play that game too. “ **Very** casually, I bet. A flower, huh? Was it for someone he loves? Why would he suddenly ask about flowers when he has been coming to the shop for two months without buying anything? Maybe he has a crush on **Sho-chan**?”

Sugawara gasped and looked at Oikawa. “No way,” he mumbled in wonder. Maybe that was why Hinata knocked over the vases! Maybe they had a secret relationship no one needed to know about! Especially Hinata’s boss who had a huge crush on The Dreamy Tattoo Man. “That... That is entirely possible,” Sugawara mumbled in shock. It was perfect!

Oikawa reached for the remote and changed the channel to a more pleasant one - volleyball. “Maybe you should ask Sho-chan about it,” he suggested and shrugged his shoulders. “I mean, it’s not normal just to go to a flower shop and not buy anything.”

“Many people do that.”

“Not for two months in a row.”

Sugawara sighed. Oikawa Tooru had a point. As always.


	2. Lessons To Be Learned

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “It won’t happen ever again and if it does, I will not have new clients for two weeks and I will only sketch flowers.”

“You know, maybe if you took your sketchbook with you, you wouldn’t need to go back there every single day, Daichi-san,” Kageyama sighed as he cleaned up his workspace. Everything was up to his standards when he finished up. Spotless. “I don’t think it’s against the law to draw something in a public area.”

Daichi looked up from his sketchbook. He had erased the sketch so many times that he was getting frustrated. His memory was definitely not the number one in the country. Especially when his thoughts travelled from flowers to a hazel-brown eyes. Yesterday he had definitely noticed a tiny, very beautiful mole under his left eye. “It shouldn’t bother you since I am doing it on my lunch break and I am your boss, Kageyama,” he murmured, scrunching his eyebrows together in thought. Daichi thought up the most brilliant idea. The orange kid was the same age with Kageyama. It was a chance to make friends. “You should come with me.”

“Why?” Kageyama drawled quietly, not wanting Asahi to correct him about ‘how to talk to your boss’ etiquette. “I don’t even like flowers. People who want flowers will come to you or Asahi-san. Besides,” Kageyama said as he started to prepare for the next client. “I have a client coming in 45 minutes.”

“That’s more than enough time to swing by the shop,” Daichi countered quickly. Kageyama needed new friends. Friends his age. Kageyama was only nineteen. Even Asahi visited the Sugary Flower from time to time. He bough white lilies. Daichi was sure if he bought even one plant, he’d probably kill it within a week. “Come on.”

Kageyama held in a few curse words as he finished preparing his tattoo chair. Daichi was already out the door. “Asahi-san, man the shop. Daichi-san is dragging me with him,” he said as he left, not waiting the softie giant for an answer him. He caught up to Daichi quickly, sour look on his face.

“Oh, you actually came.”

“You did not leave me a choice, Daichi-san.”

 

* * *

 

Hinata Shoyo stared as one familiar male and one unfamiliar male walked into the store. He glanced at the clock. 12.30 pm. Sugawara should be back from his lunch break any minute now. He gulped as the taller one came to the counter. “Hey,” he said in a small voice. “How could I help you?” Hinata asked, trying to regain his confidence when the man just glared at him.

“Stargazer.”

“What?”

“I would like to see the Stargazer thingy that Daichi-san saw yesterday,” the boy simply said. He could hear Daichi reprimanding the boyin front of him for proper manners.

“Kageyama, could you please be more polite to the owners? That is no way to treat other people. We have talked about it. For all you know, they could be your next customers.”

Hinata just stared into Kageyama’s cold blue eyes. Customers? Him? These tattoo dudes? Customers in a gang? Did gangs have customers? Oh, maybe they were some kind of assassins. Bounty hunters. Maybe-

The bell at the entrance gave a small jingle. “Ah! Suga, they’re asking for the Stargazer again and-” Hinata started before the silvery haired man had even properly shed his jacket off.

Sugawara blinked at the sudden demands and the whole shop went quiet for a while. It was suffocating for Hinata. He wanted to sink into a hole. It took a moment for Sugawara to recover. “Hinata, the flowers are still at the back, at the same spot they were three weeks ago. I am quite sure you should be able to guide our lovely customers there,” he said softly, but Hinata could sense the underlying threat behind his sweet voice and gentle smile. “I just came from lunch and I would really like to look like a person before coming behind the register.”

Hinata straightened his back and grabbed Kageyama by hand. They both vanished into the backroom. The orange haired boy let out a deep breath he had been holding when he flicked on the light. He cleared his throat.

“Let go of my hand?” Kageyama said, even though it came out more like a question rather than a demand, Hinata was quick to let go and apologize. “The Stargazer?” Kageyama sighed when Hinata was spacing out once again. “Dumbass,” he murmured as Hinata had turned his back to him and lead him further in to the backroom.

Meanwhile at the front of the shop, Sugawara was putting away his wallet and jacket, while Daichi was leaning against the counter, taking in all the flowers around him. “Sorry about that,” Sugawara said behind him, soft smile on his face. “Hinata is quite new to all this.”

Daichi laughed. “Tell me about it. I have some newbies to take care of too every now and, I know how you feel,” he admitted, turning around to look at Sugawara. “Tiring?”

Sugawara let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. Maybe it was acceptance. He was not supposed to act like that in front of customers. It was unprofessional to reprimand Hinata in front of them. “Glad you understand,” he finally relented. “But I am sorry you had to see that. Maybe I could give you a flower?”

Daichi’s eyes widened and he quickly waved his hands. Sugawara thought it was endearing. “No, no,” he said quickly. “It’s quite alright. No harm done. I reprimanded Kageyama just before you came in, so I think we are even.”

Suga pouted and reached for one single tulip and took it away from the vase. “Just one tulip,” he smiled and offered it to Daichi. “These cream-coloured blossoms are representative of forgiveness,” Suga said, not quite catching what Daichi was thinking about the flower. Oh no. “Is it too sappy?”

“Not at all,” Daichi said and took the offered flower. “You know, I should really buy something now that you have given me a gift. I feel like I should be at least giving this shop some profit, not take away from it,” he laughed, feeling the soft petals between his fingers. “But I might kill everything I buy, so I feel like it wouldn’t be fair to you,” Daichi admitted.

Sugawara chuckled quietly. “I would be able to keep my flowers alive, but Tinkerbell makes sure they are dead before I even have a chance to save them from her,” he smiled, but his smile suddenly dropped when he heard arguing from the backroom. Sugawara and Daichi sighed at the same time, sharing a pained smile. They both entered the backroom and saw Hinata and Kageyama arguing about flowers.

“Flowers don’t have feelings!”

“How would you know that, Bakageyama?! You don’t even have feelings to know about feelings!”

“Oh? Would you like to test how **THIS** feels li-”

“ **Kageyama.** ”

Kageyama immediately let go of Hinata’s collar and backed away like Hinata had burned him. “I’m sorry,” he quickly said, not looking at anyone.

Sugawara decided he should probably man this shop alone for today. Hinata should go home to cool his head off and maybe, just maybe, learn how to treat customers even if he came by a particularly difficult one. “Hina-”

Sawamura silenced Sugawara softly, knowing exactly what the silvery haired man was about to say. “Hinata-kun, was it?” he asked, smiling gently. When he saw the small boy nod, he decided to continue. “Sugawara-san and I both entrepreneurs, and I know that he is trying his best to guide you towards the right direction. Sometimes it may seem harsh, but all of that will make you better at what you do. I do the same with Kageyama. And also, whatever Sugawara-san is going to say to you from now on, you should listen. Take it to your heart and treasure it. Because one day, you might be running a business of your own, and you are having troubles with your employees. Then you will remember what Sugawara-san has said to you.”

Sugawara was definitely staring at Daichi. Wide-eyed. Maybe Daichi had just saved the situation, had softened the impact. He looked at Hinata in wonder, who had frozen in place. Possibly from fear. “Hinata, like Sawamura-san said, what I am about to say to you is not supposed to bring you down. But maybe you should take a small break. Maybe go to the coffee room to finish up some homework?” he swallowed thickly, feeling bad for saying this. However, Hinata seemed to understand what he meant.

“I apologize for... you know,” Hinata muttered quietly to everyone, but not before he heard Kageyama mutter a small apology for his ears only. Hinata sniffled quietly. Good, at least the idiot knew it was his fault he got reprimanded.

Sugawara let out a relieved sigh. “Wow, that was tough,” he said to himself, on verge of tears, but he quickly blinked them away. It had been always tough for him to be harsh. Maybe he had become too much of a softie lately. “Anyway, I have to go to the front. I trust you two will be okay here if I...?”

“Of course,” Daichi said and squeezed Sugawara’s shoulder reassuringly. “It’s your shop. Take care of your customers,” he continued and gently pushed Suga towards the door. “I'll take care of this problem child.”

Kageyama stared as the door closed in front of them and now he was alone with Daichi’s wrath. He decided to stay quiet. There was no need to start a riot, especially not in someone else’s shop. Sugawara seemed nice, and Kageyama didn’t really want to cause any more trouble for him. 

Daichi gave his hardest stare he could. He could practically feel Kageyama sinking under his gaze. “Well...?”

“It won’t happen ever again and if it does, I will not have new clients for two weeks and I will only sketch flowers,” Kageyama mumbled quietly, not wanting the flowers to hear his words. It was like all of them were mocking him. It wouldn’t really surprise him at this point.

Daichi nodded and opened the door for Kageyama. He saw Sugawara had his hands full so he only thanked him and left the shop with Kageyama.

 

* * *

 

Later that evening, Sugawara was relaxing with his feet in a small tub full of warm water and lavender oil. He was lying on the floor, his head on Oikawa’s lap as they were watching a stupid comedy. It wasn’t even all that funny but admittedly, it was good background noise.

“Sho-chan, huh? I didn’t remember he had such a temper,” Oikawa murmured, as they both had decided to start the weekend the second Sugawara had come home. Of course, this brunet had immediately sensed Sugawara’s obvious distress and prepared a foot bath. Because he was the best best friend.

Sugawara gave a small whine. “Me neither,” he admitted. “I don’t even think I knew he had one,” Suga muttered while Oikawa threaded fingers through Suga’s soft hair. “But at least I now know that.”

Oikawa hummed quietly, closing his eyes as he leaned against the sofa. He could hear Tinkerbell purring right next to his ear. “So apparently Sho-chan and this Dai-chan do not have a relationship?” he asked carefully. It was such an obvious lie he had spat out yesterday evening, but Suga had bought it so easily it was almost ridiculous.

“Ah, I don’t think they do,” Suga sighed, also closing his eyes. These were definitely the times he remembered why Oikawa was indeed his best friend. They had been awfully rivalry in high school and junior high school, but when they had went to different colleges, they had definitely realized something called friendship. And man was Suga glad, because Oikawa was the typical gay best friend. “Do you ever wonder why we actually decided this was okay?”

Oikawa opened his eyes to stare at Suga’s closed ones. “This? You mean our friendship?” he asked seriously. When Suga didn’t answer, Oikawa took that as a yes. Oikawa had to think about his question for quite a while. “Because you were miserable and I was miserable?” Oikawa wondered quietly. “I guess when Iwa-chan broke up with me after high school, I felt like I was alone in the college since you weren’t there either.”

Sugawara opened his eyes to stare the ceiling. “Do you actually think Iwa-chan would take you back if you just asked him out?” he asked carefully, not wanting to poke the old wounds. “You’re not the same little boy you were in high school, you know.”

“I haven’t even seen him for two years,” Oikawa blurted out, remembering his outburst from yesterday. Dramatic, yes. “He’s a police. Maybe I should do something criminal. Like break into your shop.”

Sugawara laughed quietly. “Please, don’t. We’ll figure something out.”

“Don’t we always, Kou-chan?”


	3. The Funky Door

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I am at work, Tooru,” Sugawara sighed, already feeling the headache coming. “I can’t just take off. My home is 50 minutes away by foot. I don’t have a car,” he reminded his best friend.

Sugawara closed his eyes as his fingers smoothly glided across the piano keys. It was Sunday. The favourite day of his week. Many would say they loved Saturdays or Fridays, but Sugawara was a Sunday person. Lazy mornings. His piano. The city was sleeping. Suga stilled his fingers for few seconds until the melody started again. Melancholy. He pressed the final notes and heaved a deep sigh. He saw Tinkerbell lying on top of the grand piano’s surface. “Oh, Tinkerbell,” he murmured, scratching the cat behind her ear.

He got up from the stool and picked up the furry cat. “Do you think I should give my parents a call?” Suga asked quietly. When the cat struggled in his arms, Sugawara decided not to call. After all, Tinkerbell knew the best. Sugawara cleared his throat and opened his balcony doors. He made sure Tinkerbell didn’t come outside. Suga closed the door behind him and leaned against the railing. The city was definitely still sleeping. The clock wasn’t even nine yet. “Maybe I should give them a call.”

Sugawara reached for his phone, and his thumb hovered on the screen for a long time. He was stalling. He didn’t have to do this. He was over it. Wasn’t he? Sugawara felt like his throat was constricting, it felt like pain and he wasn’t sure he wanted to ruin his Sunday with this phone call. Why would he torture himself like that? It didn’t make any sense to him. He pressed the ‘call’ -button. Sugawara closed his eyes as the call went straight to the voice mail. He pursed his lips and decided not to listen to the voice mail all the way to the end. He just couldn't. It was too much after all. Even after all these years. 

The silvery haired man stared at his phone for the longest time until he decided to put it back into his pocket. He swallowed the pain down his throat, looked up to the sky and forced a smile on his face. “It’s okay,” Suga whispered, trying hard not to cry. He had no right to cry over something this trivial. Down there, at the city, he could see a homeless man. He was in a far worse situation than him. He had no right. **He had no right to break down.** Sugawara stepped inside, away from the awakening city. The man walked to his fridge and started preparing sandwiches. He also made some juice and packed everything nicely.

Suga exited his apartment and walked down three sets of stairs until he was on the silent street he had seen from his balcony. He walked towards the homeless man and crouched in front of him. “Hey,” he said gently and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Would you like some?” Suga asked, giving the plastic bag he had packed everything in to the homeless man in front of him. “It’s not much.”

The homeless man gave his brightest and at the same time, the most saddest smile you can imagine. He had bad teeth. He was old. He had grey hair. He smelled like forest. “God bless you, young man,” he said gruffly, taking Suga’s hands and squeezing them like his life depended on it. Maybe it did. “God bless.”

Sugawara squeezed back, not caring how cold the man’s hands felt against his warm hands in the early autumn morning. He had trouble swallowing again. “Please take care of yourself. If I see you again, I might have to make more sandwiches for you,” Sugawara joked and he beamed when the old man laughed. “I promise.”

“Sugawara-san?”

Sugawara turned around at the somewhat familiar name and was surprised to see Daichi standing next to him, sweaty and panting. He was exercising, Suga could definitely see that from the sweatpants and earbuds hanging on his neck. “Ah, Sawamura-san,” he smiled. Suga turned around towards the homeless man who gave him a one last smile before unwrapping one of the few sandwiches. “Sorry, I was distracted,” Sugawara said and walked towards a bench that was right next to the park where Daichi had emerged from.

Daichi was staring at the homeless man quite a while before he sat next to Suga. “It’s okay,” he said, apologizing if he smelt like sweat. “I should’ve known you were charity-type.”

Sugawara blushed at Daichi and shook his head. “I don’t like to think it that way. I just... care, I guess,” Suga said, sighing quietly. He then realized Daichi probably thought he had offended him. “Before you apologize, you did not offend me. At all. So no apologies.”

“Well, I was just about to apologize so... good call,” Daichi smiled, leaning against the bench. “You live around here?” he asked, looking at the apartments in front of them. He narrowed his eyes just a little.

“Oh, yes,” Sugawara said and pointed at the red-tiled apartment building. “On the fourth floor,” he explained. “First balcony on the right,” Suga said, not really realizing he had just told where he lived. To a stranger. Almost a stranger.

“Funky door, huh?”

“Yes. What?” Sugawara said, not even realizing Daichi had a mischievous grin on his face at first. He took his time to ponder what Daichi had just said, not really understanding. “How... How did you know?” he finally asked. Maybe Oikawa had told Daichi. Maybe Oikawa secretly knew Daichi and he was just playing with him. Which wouldn’t be a surprise. It was Oikawa Tooru they were talking about after all.

Daichi laughed at Sugawara’s surprised face. Maybe it was even terrified. “I used to live there,” he said, smiling. “It was a nice apartment. Until I realized I couldn’t really afford it so I moved into a smaller one.”

“Oh...” Sugawara said, losing his words. That was really unexpected. Of all the buildings and apartments. Talk about a coincidence. Then Sugawara started to blush. He had been sleeping in the same room Daichi used to sleep in. Oh, that is a weird thought. Definitely a weird thought. “I’m sorry,” he said with a gentle smile. “They are quite expensive,” Suga admitted.

Daichi nodded.

Uncomfortable silence. Is this how romantic movies were supposed to play out? Sugawara was quite sure this was not how they were supposed to go. So he blurted out the first thing that came to his mind. “Would you like to come inside?” he regretted saying that immediately.

Even Daichi looked like he was taken aback from the sudden invitation. “I... uh,” he started, furrowing his eyebrows in though. “I don’t know if this is a good idea. I am sweaty and-”

“Oh no! forget I said that,” Sugawara hurried to say when Daichi was thinking up excuses. Oh dear, he was being way too forward. “It was a funny thing to say all of a sudden.”

Daichi only smiled and got up from the bench. “I’ll see you around, Sugawara-san,” he said, but stopped when Sugawara called him to wait.

“That sounds way too formal. Just Suga is fine.”

“Mm. Then you can just call me Daichi.”

 

* * *

 

The following Monday was terrible. Suga had caught a flu from standing on the balcony late on the Sunday eve. He felt like his head was too heavy and too light at the same time. Maybe trying to call his parents was a bad omen. And maybe asking Daichi to come inside his home was also a bad omen. Hinata was also being unnecessarily loud today. Maybe it was just him.

“Suga? Are you alright?” Hinata asked when the lunch time rolled in and the shop was not swarmed with customers. “You don’t look so good.”

Sugawara whipped his head around too quickly and he had to stay still to survive from the sudden dizziness. “I’m fine,” he smiled, watering the plants on the windowsill. If he just focused on this, he’d be fine. Hinata was taking care of the customers today so that Suga had time to tend to all the flowers and plants. That happened on every Monday since the shop wasn’t open on weekends.

“Maybe you should take a break first. Eat some lunch. I’ll have the break after you.”

The silvery haired man let out a gentle sigh. Even if Hinata was a little bit of an airhead from time to time, he cared a lot and definitely tried his best to please everyone. He was also very stubborn, much like Sugawara was. “Alright, then,” he decided to give up. Sugawara did not have the strength to argue today. “I’m heading ou-”

The bell jingled and in waltzed Oikawa Tooru. “Ah, there you are,” Oikawa said and walked towards the sickly silvery haired man. “You accidentally let out Tinkerbell this morning and he is now in my car and I really need to get to work and I can’t open your door even if I have the spare key-”

“I am at work, Tooru,” Sugawara sighed, already feeling the headache coming. “I can’t just take off. My home is 50 minutes away by foot. I don’t have even have a car,” he reminded his best friend with a stern look. He had a perfectly good reason for not owning one.

Oikawa scrunched his nose. Things never went as he planned. Besides now that he was looking, Sugawara seemed quite unwell. Unwell enough to let Tinkerbell out of the front door. He was just about to say something when the door jingled again and he could see Suga’s eyes brighten just a little bit. He turned around and he saw the possible target of Suga’s affection in front of him. Oikawa however decided it was not the right time and place for this since Tinkerbell was probably tearing down his car seats as they were speaking. “Kou-chan, please. I’ll repay you somehow.”

Sugawara closed his eyes in desperation. “Look,” he whispered. “I don’t feel too good, and I definitely do not feel okay enough to walk almost six miles on foot, with **Tinkerbell** in my arms, which I may add, is not very fond of being carried.”

“Suga?” Daichi asked carefully, not wanting to disturb. But he just couldn’t help hearing the conversation. “Can I help you with anything?”

Suga was just about decline until, of course, Oikawa decided to pipe in. “Ah, well, Kou-chan accidentally let out his cat in the morning and now it is in my car. I can’t take it home because he has a shitty door, which is by the way probably the devil in disguise. He is the only one who can open it. He is at work, he can’t walk with the cat and so on,” Oikawa explained with a sour smile and turned to look at Daichi. “Tough luck. We are indeed, in a bit of pinch here because I have to go to work.”

“I know how to open it.”

Sugawara realized no one was listening to him any more. So he just decided to stay quiet and see how this played out. Suga was drained. They probably saw that.

Oikawa’s eyes widened at the sudden declaration. “Are you sleeping with Kou-chan!?” he gasped. “You didn’t tell me!” Oikawa accused Suga immediately who just raised his hands to defend himself.

“We don’t sleep together,” Daichi said, not really caring about Oikawa’s dramatic antics. “I used to live in that particular apartment. Now, you have a problem, and I am a problem solver. I can take the cat back, if it’s okay?” he offered, looking for Suga’s eyes that were tired, extremely tired. “Do you trust me enough to do that? Suga, you honestly do not look good enough to walk that much. And I have car.”

Sugawara sighed loudly, walking to the counter and getting his keys from there. He walked slowly to the duo and gave the keys to Daichi. “She hates other men,” Suga warned Daichi. “You just need to get back inside. I’m really sorry about all this. I’ll make sure to-”

Oikawa stared at the two, trying to be invisible. Maybe Suga wasn’t telling him everything after all. “It’s fine, Suga. Try to take it easy. I’ll swing by before you close up,” Daichi promised and walked out with Oikawa behind him.

Hinata whistled quietly and smiled. “A real gentleman. Now, Suga, get some lunch.”

 

* * *

 

Daichi was sure the cat was a spawn of Satan. How was this thing called **Tinkerbell**?! He parked his car in front of the apartment building and tried very hard not to get scratched by this furry creature Suga called Tinkerbell. Daichi could not get over that name. Well, maybe Tinkerbell was kind of a bitch to Wendy in the story. At least a little. Maybe it was fitting after all. The tattooed man walked up the three sets of stairs and finally came to the right door. Right. How was he supposed to open this with a cat hanging on his shoulder?

It took a while, but Daichi finally managed to get inside and also, the most importantly, get the cat inside. He let out an exhausted sigh and was about to go out when the curiosity got the better of him. Maybe he could look around, just a little? He did regret saying no to Sugawara at the park, but he was really self-conscious of his godawful smell. Daichi was about to step further, but then decided against it. Maybe he had another chance to come inside, with Sugawara’s invitation. So he stepped out and locked the door behind him. Daichi stared at the door for a while, before he left the building. Maybe all of this was fate?

Daichi did not believe in such things.

When Daichi finally came back to his tattoo studio, Nishinoya was stomping towards him in panic. “Where were you!?” he panicked, flailing his arms around and almost pulling his hair out. “Where were you when we needed you!?”

Daichi blinked and turned to look at Asahi who just shrugged his shoulders. He turned his head back towards Nishinoya. “Is something... wrong?” Daichi asked, not really seeing what the fuss was since everyone else seemed to be quite normal. Tanaka however, was nowhere to be seen. “Is it about Tanaka?”

“Yes! He just went on a date! He dumped all his clients on me!”

“A date? With who?”

“The girl you tattooed on Friday! The pretty one! Kiyoko-san!”

Daichi sighed and took the customer list from Nishinoya’s hand and decided to take all of Tanaka’s clients to himself. “Are you sure it’s a date? Because I’m quite sure Kiyoko is dating a girl named Hitoka Yachi. I think it was the anemone I did for her?” he murmured in wonder as he went to the computer.

Nishinoya moaned in despair and fell onto the couch they had reserved for their clients. “But he said so...” he whined quietly, ignoring Asahi’s pained look from the other side of the studio. “I want to go on a date too. I haven't dated anyone since I came back from overseas. Is it my leg? Then Tanaka just leaves and then he just dumps all-”

“I just took all Tanaka’s clients for the day. Except for the one you already did. Good job, Nishinoya.”

“But you will be here until eight if you take them all,” Asahi reminded Daichi. “It’s a long day even for you.”

“Where were you anyway?” Nishinoya asked in wonder. He had been always sharp. He needed to be sharp. “You’re usually never this long at that flower shop.”

Daichi was busy sending texts to all of the clients Tanaka had decided to dismiss today and he told his co-workers to wait until he had all of this solved out. After he was done, he was ambushed by two very curious men. Daichi cleared his throat. “Suga was in trouble, so I helped him out. I took his cat home.”

“That explains the scratch on your face.”

Daichi grimaced and glanced towards a mirror in front of him. Yeah, that one was nasty. It kind of hurt too. “Yeah, well it was not an easy mission.”

“What a prince you are,” Nishinoya sighed in awe and then grinned. “So, when is your first date? Or did you have one already? Does he like tattoos? What is his type?”

“I don’t even know if he’s gay,” Daichi pointed out and went to his workplace to get everything ready for the next client. He was glad Kageyama wasn’t in tonight. Daichi was sure Kageyama would store everything for later use and use everything against him in the right moment. If he dared. Now that he mentioned Suga's friend did as if they were sleeping together, but that still didn't prove anyone being gay.

“Please. He owns a flower shop,” Nishinoya snorted and decided to follow Daichi’s example. “There’s no other option. Unless he is into flowers. Like really into flowers...”

Asahi flicked Nishinoya’s forehead gently. “Please don’t bother Daichi. He will tell you when he feels like it,” he reminded his tiny friend and got ready to leave the studio early today. “I’ll open the studio tomorrow. Is that fine?”

Daichi waved his hand in dismissal. It was more than fine. Daichi wasn’t much of a stickler for work hours. He knew his employees. Good people. Old friends. New friends. Daichi didn’t listen to Nishinoya’s whining any longer, so he decided to just tune it out and take out Tanaka’s sketchbook. A cat? Really? That was also a very cute cat. Tinkerbell was not cute. “This for you, Kuroo?” Daichi asked as the door to the studio opened. He was met with a tall man, shit-eating grin on his face.

“You bet it is,” Kuroo answered and leaned against the front counter. “But I don’t want it to be that cute. Maybe add some sharper teeth... Give the cat some charisma.”

“Why not just tattoo the logo of your bar while you’re at it?” Daichi joked. Kuroo owned a bar not too far from here. Wild Cat. It was almost ridiculous how much this man loved cats. Maybe he’d get along with Tinkerbell. Daichi furrowed his eyebrows. He really needed to stop thinking about Tinkerbell. “Just kidding, take a seat. You got my text?” Daichi asked as he started to add details to the picture. “Want the other ear to be torn a little? Maybe make it look like a bit like you?”

Kuroo snorted. “My ear is not torn,” he grinned and pointed at the sketch. “Put earrings there and maybe make the fur a little bit more...”

“Messier?”

“Exactly. It’s supposed to reflect my soul after all,” Kuroo said in a more serious tone. It was going to be his fifth tattoo. He was nowhere near Daichi, who probably had his entire body inked. Kuroo wasn’t sure. He had never seen Daichi naked. What a shame that was. “You know how to do your job,” Kuroo whistled when Daichi was ready with the sketch. “Still not talking to that Sugary Flower dude?” he asked casually as they walked to the workstation.

Daichi made Kuroo stop in front of a mirror. They decided to place the tattoo on Kuroo’s forearm. “Suga? Yes, we are definitely talking,” he said as he started to prepare inks for black and grey tattoo. Which was mainly, just black ink and water. “You sure you don’t want any colour to the eyes?”

Kuroo hummed in thought as he watched Daichi shave his forearm, and prepare it for the inevitable pain. “I’m not sure. I can decide that later,” he said with a small sigh. “So? Talking? Does that mean anything? I can see a tulip. On the counter.”

Daichi blushed a little and transferred the picture to Kuroo’s forearm. He swallowed. “Well, it was just an apology flower. He had some trouble with his employee and he wanted to apologize for the commotion.”

“How sweet,” Kuroo drawled and grimaced when Daichi started tattooing the outlines with ease. This was never the nicest part of tattooing. But somehow the pain was intoxicating. “You should ask him out before someone else does.”

“I know,” Daichi admitted and they stayed in silence for quite a while. He could hear Nishinoya talking to another client who came in only ten minutes ago. Daichi lowered his voice a little. “I don’t have the guts to ask him out,” he finally admitted. “I’m gonna change the magnums now,” Daichi finished and reached for a different set of needles for shading.

Kuroo tried not to laugh hysterically at Daichi’s words since, well, he was under needle right now and he did not want this masterpiece to be ruined. Daichi luckily had half the brain to put the machine away for a few minutes so that Kuroo could collect his breath again. “I can’t believe you actually admitted that.”

Daichi rolled his eyes. “Me neither,” he said and continued to shade the cat after Kuroo had considerably calmed down. “But it’s the truth. Why would someone like Suga even want to go out with me? I mean, we’re nothing alike. I am full of tattoos and look like a gangster while he... He...”

“Looks like an angel? Please, Daichi,” Kuroo snorted and watched as the needle pierced his skin with greyish ink. “Maybe he likes tattoos. Maybe he has tattoos in places you can’t see. Besides, tattoos aren’t just for gangs these days. You’re a professional. You should know the best. You mark all kinds of people with your art.”

Daichi stayed quiet for the rest of the tattoo session. He finished shading and paused to reach for yellow and brown ink. “So, the eyes? You want to colour them?”

Kuroo was slightly disappointed at Daichi’s lack of confidence. At this point, he might have to intervene. Just give the Suga person a small nudge to the right direction. “Yeah, let’s do it.”

 

* * *

 

After Daichi locked up the studio, his wristwatch was already insistent on climbing towards nine pm. He’d have to hurry. So he did. Daichi drove like mad towards the Sugary Flower, but he ends up stopping at every red light on the street. Was this fate then? Daichi still didn’t believe in such things. When he finally got to the shop, he breathed sigh of relief. The shop still had lights on.

Daichi carefully stepped into the deserted shop after he had parked his car and locked the doors. He made sure he had Suga’s keys with him. “Suga?” he carefully asked, not wanting to startle him this late.

Sugawara peeked to his shop from the backroom. He felt terrible. Twelve hour shift had been terrifyingly awful. He couldn’t even lock up the shop before Daichi had come. But just the sight of the man at the front made him feel just a little bit better. “In the back,” he smiled weakly. “I’m sorry to keep bothering you like this.”

“When are we going to stop apologizing every time we meet?” Daichi sighed and walked to Suga. “I’m late.”

“It’s fine,” Suga said and took the keys from Daichi. He couldn’t help but feel a small tingle in his fingertips as their fingers touched. Wow, he even had tattoos on his knuckles. ‘Have hope’ was written on his knuckles with neat letters. “Nice tattoo.”

“Oh, these?” Daichi asked as he wiggled his fingers. “Yeah I guess. I don’t have tattoos that don’t have a meaning. I always tell my clients to think about the tattoos. Some people just want to decorate their skin and in the end they start getting fed up with them. So, when there is a meaning, it’s not just for show,” he explained as he saw something in Suga’s eyes brighten.

“So you are a tattoo artist!” Suga gasped with stuffy nose. “I should’ve realized that,” he chuckled weakly, having to cough roughly after. “Ah, I caught a flu last night.”

Daichi nodded. “Yeah, I own the Tattooed Crows few blocks away from here,” he said, grimacing when he heard Suga’s raspy cough. “Are you walking home?”

“Yeah, I don’t have a driver’s license. Never though I’d need one since I enjoy walking and taking the public transport,” Sugawara smiled as he started turn off lights in the shop. They both exited the small shop and Sugawara locked it after them. “So, I’ll see you again. Thank you so much for taking care of- Oh.”

Sugawara stared at Daichi’s face and his fingers itched to touch him. The long angry scratch mark was definitely there. From Tinkerbell. Before Suga could stop himself, his fingers gently pressed against Daichi’s temple. “Oh, gosh, I am so sorry for that.”

Daichi swallowed thickly, watching the concern spread all over Suga’s beautiful features. “It’s fine, it’s not even that bad. I did have some trouble with her, but it’s fine. Really,” he said and moved Suga’s hand gently away from his face. “But as compensation, would you let me take you home? It would make me feel a bit better.”

Suga’s eyes widened. “But that is not compensation at all! You would be wasting your gas on me,” he rasped, not even sure he had heard right. Then again, a ride home was definitely tempting. Sugawara did not want to cause any more trouble and bother to Daichi. Accepting the ride would be against his principles. No, he couldn’t accept the ride. “Thank you for the offer.”

Daichi opened the passenger door to Suga and raised his eyebrows. “I could kidnap you. Get in,” he smiled and patted the hood of his car. “Come on, my baby car wouldn’t eat you. Unless sitting inside of it is considered being eaten...”

Sugawara couldn’t help but smile. So Daichi had sense of humour too. “Fine. I think you owe me a ride then. For brutally kidnapping my cat and breaking into my apartment,” he said sweetly, sitting inside. Suga buckled up, feeling somehow nervous.

“Oh? So this is how you’re gonna play this game, huh?” Daichi laughed as he started the engine and drove off. “Let me tell you, your cat is the most evil thing in this world. I can’t believe you have a heart for such creature.”

Suga laughed. “Yes, well. I saved her from a shelter. She is possibly quite evil, I’ll give you that. But maybe she’ll get used to you,” he smiled, then blushing after he realized his wording.

Daichi stuttered. “Wh-what do you mean used to?” he asked carefully, not really knowing where Suga was going with this. Was Suga asking him out?

“Y-you know! We’re friends, right?”

The tattooed man had to pull his best act. Totally not disappointed. “Yeah, of course. Friends.”

Sugawara breathed a sigh of relief. He had almost ruined everything. They were friends. That was better than nothing, right?


	4. Takeaway Chicken Soup

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “My name is Oikawa Tooru, it’s been a pleasure.”

“We’re not open today,” Hinata said as he was locking up the doors. Sugawara had called to close the shop for the day, since he was bedridden. Terrible fever. Terrible flu. Death. Hinata thought Suga was overreacting, but he was like that too. Flu was something not to play with, especially now that summer was gone and autumn was setting in quickly.

Kageyama sighed loudly. He really needed to see what Parrot’s Beak looked like from every possible angle. It was his work for today. Daichi’s orders. He had to sketch one. Now. “You’re open every day,” he argued, trying to stop Hinata from locking the doors. “How come you’re not open when I need help?” he grumbled. Kageyama was positively irritated with Hinata. Sugawara would not have left him in trouble.

Hinata turned around to look at Kageyama’s pissed off face. “Well, we are not open today because Suga is sick. And I am a college student so I can’t afford to stay here and man the shop,” he explained, trying to make it so simple child could understand it. Unfortunately Kageyama was not having any of it.

“I need to see the Parrot’s Beak! I can’t fail this!”

Now it was Hinata’s turn to sigh. “We don’t have that. It’s really rare, you know. Suga doesn’t take risks when it comes to flowers,” he explained, not caring that Kageyama was now following him like a miserable puppy. “Go to a botanical garden. Maybe that helps.”

“Listen now, you dumbass,” Kageyama growled and stopped Hinata by grabbing a hold of his jacket. “Daichi-san will have my head if I don’t have a decent sketch by the time I come back from my **lunch break**. And I will tell him, it’s all your fault. That you do not treat your cust-”

“Fine!” Hinata shouted and struggled to get away from Kageyama’s grip. “Fine. Okay. Fine,” he sighed quietly, trying to think quickly. Daichi would definitely tell Suga if he acted out of line. Kageyama was a customer. Take a deep breath. “I’ll take you to the nearest other flower shop and look around. Bigger shops should have that. Okay? Okay.”

Kageyama was texting away with his phone. Daichi needed to know that the Sugary Flower was closed. He’d take longer than expected. Maybe he could pull this off. “It’s not like I’m doing this happily.”

Hinata rolled his eyes and took his bicycle from the rack. “Glad I’m not the only one,” he mumbled as they walked in silence. It took them solid twenty minutes to get to the next flower shop, which was quite popular in the town. “Right, so, follow me,” Hinata mumbled as they went inside. Hinata quickly manoeuvred to the ‘exotic flowers’ section, pulling Kageyama along.

Kageyama looked around curiously. Not that he was really that interested. He nearly bumped into Hinata when he stopped suddenly. “What the fuck are you-”

“That’s the one,” Hinata pointed at the flaming red and orange flowers in front of them. “Exceedingly rare since 1884. Not met in the wild any more these days.”

Kageyama couldn’t help but be in awe. “Wow,” he admitted, looking at the flower. He took out his sketchbook, and started drawing. It was the first time he felt like a flower was thoroughly gorgeous. The fact that it reminded him of Hinata’s hair did not help all that much though.

“I know, right?” Hinata grinned from ear to ear, touching the petals gently. “It’s really beautiful. Even a grumpy like you can see that,” he said, sticking out his tongue. However, Kageyama wasn’t taking his bait. He just kept drawing, focused on his job. Hinata glanced at the sketchbook. “So... do you do tattoos or something?”

Kageyama spared a quick glance at Hinata, continuing with his work. “I’m a trainee at Daichi-san’s tattoo studio,” he said lamely, leaning a little bit closer to the flower. Kageyama could not understand why Daichi couldn’t just carry the sketchbook with him. This was way easier that trying to remember every dip and curve of...

“You’re good at that,” Hinata said, admiring the way Kageyama’s slender fingers held the pencil. Admiring they way he could easily draw the lines and shade it just right. “I’m really bad at drawing.”

Kageyama snorted. “You don’t look like you’re good at anything.”

Hinata pursed his lips a little. “Well, I’m good at sports,” he mumbled quietly, not able to tear his eyes away from Kageyama’s fingers. “Have you done many tattoos?”

“Why do you keep asking stuff? Don’t you have school or something?”

“Fine. I’ll go away then,” Hinata said and prepared to take his leave. There was no way he was going to stay near that sour idiot any longer.

“Eight.”

“Eight what?” Hinata turned around.

“Eight tattoos.”

“Is that going to be your ninth?”

“Maybe.”

 

* * *

 

Doorbell ringing roused Sugawara from his heavy sleep. He groaned quietly, not even caring to look at the time. Suga sleepily walked to the door. It was not Oikawa. Oikawa would have banged. Maybe it was Hinata? He sighed quietly, opening the door with way too much effort. What he did not expect was brown eyes staring at him with so much concern it made Suga feel warm all over despite the flu. “Daichi?” he mumbled quietly, rubbing his eyes. Maybe he was dreaming. “What are you doing here?”

Daichi cleared his throat a little. “I.. uh... I have a lunch break and I heard you weren’t in today, so... And you were sick, so I was wondering if...” he stammered, lifting up a small plastic bag in front of him. “I brought some chicken soup for you and if you don’t mind... I’d... I could have lunch with you?”

It took quite a while for Sugawara to recover from all this sudden information. Until it suddenly sunk in. “Oh sorry, I am so out of this world right now. Of course, please come in,” Suga laughed weakly and let the slightly taller man come inside. “You’re a saviour. I didn’t feel like making the trip to store,” he explained and led Daichi to kitchen while explaining where everything was.

“I know where everything is,” Daichi reminded Sugawara and told him to just sit down and take it easy. “Glad I’m able to cheer you up with some food. Kageyama told me the shop was closed for today,” he explained and hurried to fill two bowls with spicy chicken soup. It was still steaming, luckily. Takeaway was one of the best inventions in the world.

Suga waved his hand. Yeah, Daichi knew. Of course he knew. “Kageyama-kun?” he asked, a bit confused. “I thought he didn’t like flowers,” Suga murmured, taking the bowl and the spoon offered to him. “There’s bread on your left if you’d like to have some,” he said as Daichi started to raid his fridge. He liked it. They way Daichi was like he belonged in here. It was great.

“Ah... I didn’t have any easy clients for him this week so I made him go out and draw a random flower that we didn’t have a sketch of,” Daichi explained, rolling his shoulders a little. He felt stiff. “But apparently Hinata took care of it," he gave Suga's his phone so that he could read the text.

Suga raised his eyebrows a little. “Hinata and Kageyama-kun...?” he grimaced as he read the text message Kageyama had sent to Daichi. “I do hope no flowers were harmed during this trip.”

Daichi chuckled as he put away his phone. He sipped his soup a little. It was heavenly. “I hope that too. Then again, I feel like Kageyama is really trying... He’s trying to become a better person,” Daichi said, fiddling with his spoon. “He had it rough the past couple of years.”

Sugawara nodded. He could understand. “So, are the tattoos his outlet or something?” he asked curiously. Sugawara had never thought of getting a tattoo. The idea had never even crossed his mind. Oikawa didn’t have any either. Hinata didn’t have one either. It was a little bit like... Suga hummed in thought. Their social circles were definitely different.

“In a way, I suppose. He has some personal tattoos,” Daichi agreed, looking around in the kitchen. He could see the living room from the kitchen. Sugawara was definitely a lot more wealthier than he had been back in the day. Daichi couldn’t help but notice a small sliver of a white grand piano in the corner of the living room. “Do you have an outlet?”

Sugawara stopped eating in the middle. He followed Daichi’s gaze and his smile turned a little bit sour. “You mean that piano?” he asked softly. Daichi whipped his head back towards Suga, like he had been caught. “It is. Sort of. Kind of hard to explain,” Suga said, not really wanting to go too much into it. At least not yet.

Daichi sighed and leaned his chin against his hand. “You’re so mysterious,” he blurted out without thinking. He just kept intently staring at Sugawara’s reddening features. “It’s interesting.”

“Oh please,” Sugawara smiled, trying not to let his blush show. “I aim to surprise after all. I can’t surprise if I’m not mysterious,” he countered, fighting his blush down. Come on now, you’re not weak Sugawara Koushi. Why was he flirting? No, he needed to stop. “What about you? Why tattoos? Do you have more than just hands and arms?”

Daichi swallowed thickly. He remembered his talk from yesterday. Kuroo. Damn Kuroo. Confidence. Suga was definitely not outright turning him down. Flirt is the first step to asking someone out, wasn’t it? He looked straight into Suga’s eyes, trying to look flirty (and failing miserably). “Wouldn’t you like to know what’s underneath these clo-”

Sugawara burst out laughing so hard he nearly fell over from the kitchen chair he was sitting on. “Oh my god, Daichi,” he giggled and tried to get himself together. He coughed and wheezed. Daichi offered him some water, clearly embarrassed. “I’m sorry, you just... Just looked so... So... Cute..?”

“Cu-cute?!” Daichi spluttered and stared at Suga. “I... I tried to be extremely manly and flirty!”

“Well, you definitely failed at that,” Sugawara smiled after his laugh had died down. That was probably the most real laugh he had had since he moved here. “Wow, you really are a funny guy. I thought you were intimidating at first.”

Daichi pouted just a little. A very manly pout. He continued to eat his chicken soup. Manly. He also squeaked very manly when Tinkerbell suddenly jumped on the kitchen table. “Gosh, darn. You’re just as evil as that cat.”

Suga just smiled. His smile was always radiant. Like an angel. Except Sugawara was not an angel. At all. “Ah, well I guess you are attracted to evil things then,” he smiled and finished his soup. Suga reached for Tinkerbell and placed him back on the floor. “Not on the table.”

“You do know I don’t mean that?” Daichi confirmed, just in case.

Suga gasped. “So you did not mean it? I was really hurt just a minute ago,” he whined miserably, wiping at his eyes. Then he flashed a brilliant smile. “I think I am spending too much time with Tooru.”

Daichi laughed. “The stylish gay man I saw at the flower shop?”

“That’s the one. He really doesn’t hide it, does he?” Sugawara laughed and went to clean the dishes, until Daichi said he could do it. That ended up with an argument and someone banging the door extremely loudly. Sugawara smiled mischievously. He knew exactly who that was. “Oh Daichi, could you take the door?” Suga asked, watching Daichi’s face lighten up now that he was allowed to do something. Suga quickly turned to the dishes once Daichi was out of sight.

Oikawa barged in the moment Daichi had the door open. He was almost at the kitchen before he realized to backtrack a little. He turned around to look at Daichi. Oikawa narrowed his eyes. “What are **you** doing in here?”

“Uhh...” Daichi started to explain but Oikawa was poking his chest with his forefinger. That almost hurt a little.

“My poor little Kou-chan. Alone in his own apartment. Weakened by flu. With a man he barely even knows. I don’t know whose judgement is worse. First dates are always supposed to happen in a public place. I honestly want to know why you’re here. In... In a white, fitting t-shirt with.. ink splatters? Why?” Oikawa bombarded Daichi with questions and accusations, narrowing his eyes dangerously. Yes. He knew that Suga was charmed with this man, but oh no, Oikawa was not convinced yet. True, Daichi was definitely good-looking, no doubt about that. But Oikawa was also very protective of Suga. Suga did not need more misery in his life.

“Look,” Daichi sighed, raising his hands in defeat. “I came here to feed him. And according to Suga, I am a saviour, so you don’t have a say in that,” Daichi started, not really knowing if Oikawa was protective or just plain obsessive of Sugawara. “And I don’t think this is a date...?”

Sugawara dropped a spoon and bent down to pick it up. Oh, who was he fooling? Of course it wasn’t a date. What was he even thinking? Why would he even consider dating anyone? He quickly finished the rest of the dishes he had left laying around since yesterday. He wasn't ready for dating anyways. Suga dried his hands and he was now sure both of them had lowered their voice levels since he could barely hear them.

Oikawa pinched Daichi’s cheek so hard the male winced. “You listen here,” he whispered harshly and glanced at the kitchen. “If you’re here to make his life even more miserable, I will make sure you do not have your balls intact any more. So,” Oikawa said and let go of Daichi’s cheek with a sweet smile. “My name is Oikawa Tooru, it’s been a pleasure.”

“Sawamura Daichi,” the brunet mumbled and rubbed his cheek. Oikawa sure had some strong finger right there. Daichi then cleared his throat, keeping his voice down. “Look, I don’t know. Okay. I don’t know. I don’t know what this is. So please, give me a break, okay? I think we’re both still trying to figure all of this out.”

“Is everything okay?” Sugawara asked as he peeked towards the hall from his kitchen. He smiled softly. “Ah, Tooru. You came for the tea, right?”

Oikawa turned around to look at Suga with a brilliant smile. “No, I brought my special blend to you. So we can enjoy tea together, and gossip. I have juicy news about that hot police officer,” he said and winked. “So, Dai-chan?” Oikawa asked and looked at Daichi. “Do you have work or...?”

“Work,” Daichi quickly said and forced a small smile to his face. Oikawa Tooru was a force to be reckoned with. He needed a battle plan. Dating plan. Anything. Maybe he needed to back down. Oikawa was probably not easy to please. “Sorry. I’ll see you around, Suga. Oikawa.”

Oikawa waved with an overly sweet smile. Suga looked at the exchange curiously. He then woke up from his trance. “Yes, Daichi. See you around. Take care.”

“Will do,” Daichi said as he left, heaving a heavy sigh. That was mildly terrifying.

Oikawa narrowed his eyes after Daichi had closed the door. He then turned to look at Sugawara who dropped his cheerful facade. Heartbreaking. “You know... I think you could do better. That man has no idea what he is getting into or what he even wants.”

Sugawara turned around to prepare the tea Oikawa had brought. His sore throat really needed that special blend. “Well,” he said, trying to will his voice not to sound broken. “Maybe it's for the best.”

Oikawa smacked his lips and reached for two pastel pink mugs that were, indeed, matching ones. Best friend mugs. His gift for Sugawara. It was so cheesy. But Oikawa loved cheesy. “Maybe. But I admit, it was a nice thought. You know, cure the sickness with chicken soup and muscles.”

Sugawara laughed weakly and nodded. “I haven’t dated anyone for years. For a good reason."

“I still don't think your reason is plausible. Who was it that you dated back in the high school?” Oikawa murmured carefully threading the topic. “He was huge, wasn’t he? Kinda scary-looking?”

“Oh, you mean Asahi?” Suga asked and tilted his head. “Yeah, haven’t seen him since. I did hear he lived nearby, but never really gave it any thought. We were... I guess he was being too careful with me. And I was way too soft for him. It was just... And it was a bad time for me... For us.”

Oikawa nodded. “Oh yeah, I remember. No spark. Too dull. But the sex was great?” he confirmed, trying not to dwell too much in the depressing parts of the story. “I know we weren’t the best friends back in the high school, but I saw you two doing it in the locker room after volleyball practice.”

“What!?” Sugawara said and almost dropped his mug. “You- No- You did not! No one was there!” he gasped, red all over.

Oikawa smirked knowingly. “Yeah, I didn’t. I didn’t even know you did it in the locker room. Thank you for confirming though.”

“Tooru!”

“So, about Iwa-chan...”

 

* * *

 

Asahi sneezed softly.

“Asahi! You’re not getting sick, are you!?” Nishinoya jumped on the couch, knocking Asahi’s sketchbooks and portfolios on the ground. He immediately felt for Asahi’s forehead. “You’re not hot.”

Asahi was mildly horrified by Nishinoya’s sudden outburst, but he soon relaxed and pushed his hand away. “No. I am not getting sick,” he said and collected his fallen items swiftly. “Where did Daichi go?”

“Something about Suga,” Nishinoya said and hopped off from the couch. He took one portfolio and threw it on Asahi’s lap. He narrowed his eyes. “Why do you always look so weird when anyone mentions that name?”

“No, it’s just...” Asahi said, trying to remember something he probably should remember. “It’s just that Suga sounds awfully familiar, but I just can’t piece it together.”

Nishinoya just stared. For a long while. You could probably hear the crickets if it was evening. “Haven’t you seen him then? You have went to Sugary Flower like... Three, two times?”

Asahi shook his head. “No, it was that orange-haired kid. Hinata,” he murmured in his thoughts, taking out his old sketchbooks and going through them. “I haven’t seen this Suga-guy.”

“If I were you, I wouldn’t tell Daichi that you’re thinking about his crush.”

“Tell me what?” Daichi asked as he opened the door to the studio. He shed his jacket and went behind the counter to check his client list for the rest of the day. Tanaka was supposed to come later but by then, Daichi would be already home. He looked up from the list, watching two males stare at each other in horror. “What’s up?”

“Kageyama is not back yet,” Nishinoya saved the situation and nodded. “He was supposed to be here fifteen minutes ago, but he’s still not here.”

“He is right there, **Commander**. I might think you are getting rusty with your observation skills,” Daichi raised his eyebrows with a slight amusement twinkling in his eyes as he said 'commander' and pointed at Kageyama, who was sitting behind the counter with a sketchbook in his hands. When the boys looked even more frazzled, Daichi decided to just leave it. He turned to look at Kageyama. “How was your trip?”

“Fine,” Kageyama simply said, staring at the sketch in front of him. “It was a bother though. Hinata is hard to handle.”

Daichi took the sketch from him and inspected it. “I think you’re also hard to handle,” he gave Kageyama a pointed look, turning his attention back to the flower sketch. “This is your first coloured work, isn’t it? It’s nice. I can see that you have your own style forming.”

“Thank you, Daichi-san,” Kageyama said and pointed at the petals. “I have... I know you are my boss, but if...”

“Go on.”

“It’s lot easier to just draw something when you can clearly see it,” Kageyama finished, still intent on making Daichi carry his sketchbook with him.

Nishinoya snorted. “Oh, you don’t get it Kageyama. Suga is his only reason to actually go to that flower shop these days. He probably has every flower they have recorded in his brain and sketchbooks.”

Daichi shook his head. “Not true,” he said, not really catching on why his subordinates suddenly started acting like this. “Anyway, I met Suga’s best friend today. Properly.”

“How’d it go?” Asahi asked from the couch, adding new sketches and photos to his portfolio.

“He threatened to cut my balls off,” Daichi said and gave Kageyama his sketchbook back. “It was a pretty solid threat.”

Nishinoya cleared his throat and whistled low. “I think you might want to lay low for a while if you did something that made him do such a threat,” he suggested, grimacing when he saw Daichi visibly stiffen. “Did you do something?”

“I don’t know! Oikawa just suddenly decided that I was going to make Suga’s life extremely miserable and terrible after I said I don’t think this was a date?”

Asahi lifted his head up a little from his portfolio. Oikawa?

Oikawa Tooru.

Sugawara Koushi.

**Oh shit.**

Nishinoya pondered that for a while. “Yeah, you might want to lay low for a while. Only gay best friends bring lunch to their gay best friend. Unless you want it to be a date, which it apparently wasn’t. To you.”

“What if Sugawara-san thought it was a date?” Kageyama suddenly asked. He had never really joined this conversation, but these dumb oafs were definitely in need of some sort of guidance. “What?” Kageyama asked when Daichi and Nishinoya stared at him. “I know what dates are. Do you know about those, Noya-san?” he sighed quietly, feelin his head getting smacked with a gossip magazine.

“Well if he thought it was a date, then I am fucked, because Oikawa is definitely going to tell him I didn’t think of it as a date,” Daichi moaned in despair. He had probably fucked up his one chance at claiming the love of his life. The prettiest man who had ever walked the earth. “But I just don’t understand. Suga is always so bright, why would his life be miserable? He has... a caring friend, a great place to live, he owns an apartment of my dreams and...”

Nishinoya piped up. “Parent issues? Sex disease? Cancer? Oh! Maybe he has been overseas like me!”

Kageyama sighed and decided to tune out this conversation now. He did not need it any more. He had planted the seed. It was more than enough. Kageyama turned a fresh page and started sketching whatever came to his mind.

Daichi just shrugged his shoulders. “I honestly don’t know. I barely even know him. I know that he has a great sense of humour and that he’s witty, cunning and quite possibly some kind of devil in disguise. He has a grand piano he doesn’t like to talk about and his cat destroys everything that is alive. Suga makes sandwiches for homeless people and his best friend is psychotic.”

"But according to that you already know quite a lot about him," Nishinoya said, rubbing his face a little. "Except for the most important thing,  **his phone number** maybe?"

Asahi carefully glanced at Daichi’s direction. Should he bring this up? Should he tell him? No, definitely not. Daichi might actually kill him. But it was in highschool. They were seventeen. They had sex couple of times. And yes, kissed quite a lot. He knew exactly what was going on with Suga’s parents. But Asahi was over Suga. Suga was definitely over Asahi. Asahi liked someone else. He could come clean.

“...ahi? Aaa-saaa-hiii~?” Nishinoya asked and poked the giant’s cheek gently. “We were asking about your opinion too.”

“I used to sleep with Sugawara Koushi.”

**“What?”**


	5. Painting The World Red

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Are you still calling them?” Asahi asked, knowing exactly what was going on in Suga’s head right at that moment. “Stop it. Sell the house. Move on with your life.”

“Wait, now, wait. You used to sleep with **the Sugawara Koushi of the Sugary Flower**?” Nishinoya confirmed, suddenly feeling very territorial. Asahi actually had dating history after all! He had never told him or Daichi. Never. Nishinoya had been betrayed. He had almost thought Asahi just... wasn't interested. In anything at all. “But... You... You don’t feel anything for him, do you? Like, right now?”

Daichi stayed silent. He really wanted to hear some kind of explanation because that is not something you should just admit in a situation like this. Asahi looked outright terrified, so Daichi decided to stay cool. It might have been years ago, not two months ago. “Explain. **Now**.”

“Calm down,” Asahi pleaded, sweat starting to roll down his face. Everything got so tense all of a sudden. “It was back in the high school. We were seventeen. We went out for like a year until it...,” he explained, scratching his head awkwardly. "Things went to south and we broke up."

“Why didn’t you tell us since day one?” Daichi asked, very confused. He knew that Asahi could be extremely fragile for a big guy, but he shouldn’t have been scared to admit something like that. Unless he was in fact in love with Sugawara which didn’t seem like the case. He was also tempted to ask how the sex was. But he shouldn’t.

“I... I couldn’t connect Suga with Sugawara and well, I never saw him at the shop when I visited there,” Asahi explained, feeling hot under Nishinoya’s intense gaze. Oh boy, it was intense. “And I just only now realized, because you were talking about Oikawa and we used to go to the same Junior High together. Sugawara moved across the country after high school. I haven’t seen him since.”

Daichi rubbed his face tiredly. What a shit show this almost turned out to be. “So it’s totally okay...?”

Asahi got up from the couch and walked to Daichi. “It’s more than okay. It’s in the past, I didn’t... I just wanted to lay it out now because...”

“Well, that would have been awkward. Daichi and Suga start to date and then they meet **the best friends** ,” Nishinoya drawled with a dry tone. He was pissed. Asahi had no idea why Nishinoya, of all people, was suddenly pissed. “What’s so special about this Suga, then? Does everyone want to bang him or something?”

Kageyama shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t think he’s all that special,” he commented, drawing a small figure with messy hair and large eyes. Why did this sketch suddenly became way too realistic?

“Nishinoya?” Daichi asked, voice laced with confusion. “What got your pants twisted all of a sudden? It’s me who is supposed to be hurt by all this and I’m fine.”

Nishinoya walked up to Asahi. “Because he has banged everyone with his hot manly body!”

“I haven’t banged everyone! I only had sex with Sugawara and that was ages ago!” Asahi yelled in terror when Nishinoya really looked like he was about to flay him alive. He knew how to kill someone. Asahi knew that. But wait? What? “Wait... Hot manly body?”

Kageyama facepalmed and threw his sketchbook on the counter. Was everyone in this tattoo studio idiots? He got up from the office chair. “I really don’t want to bother you, but we have a customer.”

There, indeed, was a customer who was mildly terrified by the sudden conversation happening before him. Daichi turned to look at who the customer was. “Ah? I’m sorry. Are you here for a tattoo?”

“I.. Actually... Yes! I was going to surprise my girlfriend by getting a small tattoo. She got one recently and I...” the girl stammered weakly, terrified by all the men around him. “I thought of a... Small marsh with a lonely flower standing tall in it?”

Daichi nodded and motioned the girl to follow him to the counter. “Asahi, we will talk about this later,” he reminded and gave the girl a gentle smile. “You are in luck. You can choose from five individual tattoo artists. Tanaka is not here right now, but I don’t think he might be the best suited for an art like this... What’s your name?”

“Yachi Hitoka,” she smiled carefully, looking around the shop. “Who would you recommend?”

Daichi cleared his throat as he tried to choose between Kageyama and Asahi. “The thing is, Kageyama is just a trainee but he does more than a decent work. Asahi has been doing this for couple of years, but I’d like to Kageyama have some practice too. It’s your call at this point.”

“Oh? Kageyama-kun?” Hitoka asked and her head fell to the side just a little, as if she was thinking about something. “I’d like to Kageyama-kun do mine.”

“Kageyama, you got a client.”

“Alright, bring her over.”

 

* * *

 

“Maybe you did something.”

Sugawara sighed. “I feel like Tooru might have said or done something,” he admitted while cutting stems from their new batch of roses. They had to cut 755 stems. It was already late September and he hadn’t seen Daichi for weeks. Nor Kageyama. It was as if they had just erased themselves from the existence. “Maybe I should go there?”

Hinata pricked his finger on a thorn and sucked the small wound gently. “Or you could call him and ask what’s up.”

“I don’t have his phone number.”

Hinata blinked, not really knowing what to say. At first. “You had lunch with him, in your own home and you don’t even have his phone number?” Hinata asked, not daring to look at Sugawara’s expression right now. “Fair enough.”

Suga gently cut the 53rd rose and placed the flower in a vase full of nutritional water. “I probably should have asked?” he murmured in thought. “Why didn’t I ask?” he wondered quietly, until he heard a familiar ringtone coming from the counter. “That’s mine. Excuse me,” Suga said as he walked to the counter. “Hello,” he answered without looking at the screen. “Who is this?” Sugawara asked, turning his back to Hinata.

_“Suga?”_

“Asahi?”

 

* * *

 

“That was definitely a call I didn’t expect to have today,” Sugawara said, leaning against the comfortable couch. Asahi and Suga had agreed to meet at a small coffee house after work. Suga had left Hinata to lock up the shop and now he was sitting in front of very uncomfortable Azumane Asahi. “What are you doing in Tokyo?” he asked, looking suspiciously at a rose that was tattooed on Asahi’s neck. Suga had a bad feeling about that tattoo.

Asahi laughed nervously, sipping his coffee. “I live here...” he started, fiddling with his thumbs. “And I work at...”

“Tattooed Crows, right? Did Daichi make you do this? Does he know?” Suga asked miserably, reaching for Asahi’s hands. He didn’t mean to mess up anyone’s friendships and he simply wanted to comfort his old friend, also his ex-boyfriend.

Asahi patted Suga’s hand gently and smiled. “He didn’t make me do it. He doesn’t even know we’re meeting,” he said quietly, feeling like even the walls had ears. “Why are you two so difficult?” Asahi suddenly asked, furrowing his eyebrows. “Even Kageyama thinks you two are idiots.”

Sugawara smiled and pulled his hand away. He then placed it on his lap and dropping the smile altogether. He didn’t need to pull a strong face in front of Asahi. He knew everything, after all. Even though it had been almost six years since they had last seen each other’s faces.

“Are you still calling them?” Asahi asked, knowing exactly what was going on in Suga’s head right at that moment. “Stop it. Sell the house. Move on with your life.”

Suga gripped his mug tightly, knuckles going white. “Why did you even come here?” Sugawara sniffled, trying to hide his tears from Asahi. “If it was trying to rip open old wounds-”

“No, dear god no,” Asahi sighed quietly, lifting his hand to touch, but he didn’t dare. It was like he wasn’t allowed to do so any more. It was someone else’s duty. And that someone else wasn’t there. “I just... I don’t want two of my close friends dance around each other in misery when everyone can see that you two like each other. You even had a lunch date. What happened?”

Sugawara wiped his eyes softly, recalling what happened the last time he’d seen Daichi. “He said it wasn’t a date,” he mumbled quietly, feeling embarrassed at his outburst. “Then Tooru said something and I haven’t seen him since. I thought I messed up really badly.”

Asahi’s gaze softened and he smiled a little. He took a sketchbook from his bag and slid it to Sugawara. “Don’t tell Daichi. Never tell Daichi about this,” he whispered. “I think it might’ve been date, but Daichi is just... a little bit unsure when it comes to you.”

Sugawara looked at the sketchbook in wonder, flipping the first page. Flowers. Next page was also filled with flowers. Then there was a very rough sketch of someone holding a lily between their fingers. Suga kept going through until he found out who Daichi was slowly drawing. After the sketch of ‘Stargazer’, the pictures became a lot more clear. Suga could easily recognize his own features.

“It’s his... More personal sketchbook. He uses the flowers of course, but...” Asahi said. He gnawed his bottom lip. The sketchbook had not been his idea. Kuroo had actually stolen it from Daichi’s apartment and it had somehow ended up in Asahi’s apartment with a post-it note in it. Kuroo was probably just as fed up with Daichi’s bad mood as everyone else. “Come by the shop tomorrow?”

Sugawara closed the sketchbook, his thoughts swimming way too fast. It was true then. But he didn’t know what he wanted. “Asahi, my parents-”

“Are dead,” Asahi finished softly. “They are not controlling your present.”

“But I love them,” Suga whispered, as if the whole world would break just from that tiny whisper. “I want to respect their memory.”

Asahi sighed quietly and finished his coffee. “Think about it,” he said, putting the sketchbook back into his bag. “Daichi doesn’t have clients tomorrow. He’ll be there until 6 pm. Think about it,” Asahi reminded and left Sugawara to his thoughts.

Sugawara felt like hours had passed since Asahi left. In reality it had only been five minutes. He slowly got up from the couch. Maybe talking to Oikawa would help. If he was in fact, home.

 

* * *

 

Oikawa was home. But it was not Oikawa who opened the door for Sugawara Koushi. “Hajime?” he asked in a confused tone. The man was clad in boxers. It didn’t take long for Sugawara to do the maths. “Is Tooru available?”

Iwaizumi smiled just a little, looking over his shoulder. “He’s asleep.”

“That’s a no then,” Sugawara laughed quietly. He was actually, genuinely happy for Oikawa. He had no idea this was happening behind his back. “Did he break the law or something?”

That made the man’s expression actually darken. “He was protesting in front of the police station. He threw eggs at the officers. Had to take him in,” he said in an irritated tone. “Why can’t he be a normal person and just give a call?”

“Because he wouldn’t be Tooru then,” Sugawara sighed. “Well, once he wakes up and functions normally, could you send him up? I could use a talk,” he asked and already started to walk away from the door.

“Will do. It’s good to see you feeling well, Suga,” Iwaizumi said, giving Sugawara encouraging smile as he closed the door.

Suga gave a small wave just before the door closed and he started to climb up the stairs. Oikawa lived right below his apartment. They used to share an apartment after Suga moved to Karasuno. It was too much. Oikawa was too much. This was better. They still lived near each other, but not in the ‘you’re drinking from my mug’ kind of way. He smiled fondly at the memory and unlocked his door, gently closing it after him;as gently as you could with this door that needed some serious repairing. “Tinkerbell?” Suga called softly, going for the empty food bowl. It needed filling again. At this speed Tinkerbell would not just be evil. She would be fat and evil. Suga filled it and finally sat down on the nearest seat, like he didn’t even have any bones in his body. Why did his ghosts from the past came back now?

Sugawara sat on the piano stool and stared at the white and black keys in front of him. “Am I thinking too much into this?” he whispered quietly, lower lip quivering. Suga gently pressed one key, the sound echoing in the lonely apartment. He felt a small, lonely tear fall down to his cheek. It had been six years. Six years since his mother died in a car accident. Six years since his father committed a suicide. Six years since he made a promise. A promise to respect his parents’ wishes. “If we hadn’t fought over something so trivial...” Suga whispered, pressing another key. Before Suga knew it, he was playing the piano. It was painful. It had been a terrible day. Suga remembered everything. Every single facial feature, every single word. “How could I let myself even think about moving on with another man?”

_“I’m home!”_

_Suga’s voice echoed in their little home. He took off his shoes and walked to the kitchen, seeing it was empty. “Odd,” he said, letting his bag slip from his shoulder. He walked to the fridge and saw a little note stuck on the door. ‘Visiting the principal, will be home soon’, Suga read quietly in his mind and opened the fridge. He grabbed a soda and walked upstairs, to his room. Suga had always been good in school. He had terribly good graded. It was nothing to worry about._

_Suga opened his laptop and started typing to Asahi, who was online on Skype._

_**Sugawara Koushi:** Just got home. Principal called my parents about something. _  
_**Azumane Asahi:** ... _  
_**Sugawara Koushi:** ??? Asahi?_  
_**Azumane Asahi:** My parents came home around fifteen minutes ago and one of the teachers had complained about PDA._

_Sugawara swallowed thickly, his fingers freezing on the keyboard. PDA? Was it the small, tiny kiss they had shared today just before the morning class? Suga could already feel his neck prickling from the tension. His parents were never supposed to find out about Asahi. It was the iron rule when they had started going out. Never tell the Sugawara Yukiko or Sugawara Ryosei about them. The iron rule. Oh no._

_**Azumane Asahi:** Are you okay? I know your parents are... difficult._  
_**Sugawara Koushi:** That is an understatement of the year, Asahi..._  
_**Azumane Asahi:** Tell me how it goes, okay? You know I love you._

_Suga heard a door slam and he quickly closed the laptop. He got up from his bed, taking a sip from his soda and carefully tiptoed to his door. Oh, his parents were mad. Suga licked his lips. Maybe it wasn’t about him and Asahi. He still had hope. Suga put a bright smile on his face and walked out of the room. “Welcome home,” he called and walked down the stairs. Be a good son._

_Sugawara Yukiko and Ryosei were standing right in front of him with a stern look on their faces. They hadn't even shed their coats yet. “Do you happen to know why we visited the principal?” Yukiko asked, watching as his son tensed at the question._

_“I... I might have an idea,” Sugawara said, hanging his head down. Suga was ashamed. At the same time he felt happy. No need to hide it anymore. He could come clean. Suga lifted his head with a small smile. Maybe they could work things out. Maybe his parents would change now that their son- he felt a sharp pain on his cheek. Suga brought his hand to his cheek. It hurt. Burned. He lifted his eyes only to see Ryosei holding Yukiko’s hand gently. “I’m sorry, mom, dad."_

_“You are sorry?!” Yukiko yelled furiously. She wrenched her hand away from Ryosei’s grip. “You are sorry?! You’re not our son!”_

_“What?!” Sugawara was surprised to hear such words coming from his mother's mouth. To her, family had always been everything. Something was boiling inside Suga's guts. Fuck the good son image. He would have accepted that his parents were disappointed in his choice of love, but to go this far, disowning him. “Asahi is a good person! If he was a girl you wouldn’t have anything to say about it! But no, he is a boy and I can’t choose who I love!”_

_“Yukiko, calm down. You too, Koushi. We should all sit down and talk about this. I know good doctors-”_

_Suga whipped his head towards his father. He almost had hope for him. But it was crushed now. Everything was in pieces. “Doctors!? Dad, you can’t cure something like this! It’s 2016! It’s not a disease!” he yelled, tears starting to fall from his eyes. “Why can’t you just support me like normal parents do?!”_

_Yukiko breathed in slowly. “I did not raise you to become someone like this. I taught you everything I know. I taught you cooking. I taught you how to play piano. I taught you everything! I did not teach you to become... become... That!”_

_“Listen, we only want your best, Koushi,” Ryosei said gently, laying a hand on his shoulder._

_“No, let me go,” Sugawara breathed and walked towards the front door. He needed fresh air. His head was spinning. His life was spinning out of control. Everything was out of control. Suga couldn't control it. No one could control it. He could hear his mother running after him. Suga did not want her to follow, so he ran across the street. He should keep running. Maybe Asahi would take him in for the night until things calmed down. He could hear his mother yell. Then Suga turned around. His heart was breaking. He could see his mother trying to reach him. Sugawara almost wanted to reach back. Make everything stop. But then it was red. Everything was red. The asphalt. His mother. The truck his mother had hit. It had happened so quickly. “Mom! No!” he yelled. It never goes like in the movies. There’s no slow motion. There is no memories flashing through your mind. There is nothing but blankness when it happens. At least for Suga._

_That evening the sun wasn’t the only thing that was painting the world red._

_Two months later his father left the world by his own hand Suga was left alone in an empty house he didn't dare to sell._

Suga gasped and slammed his fingers on the piano. The beautiful melody was gone. He could still hear his father’s accusations in his head.

_If you hadn’t run away._

_If you hadn’t argued about everything._

_If only you were a good son._

“Kou-chan?”

Sugawara jumped, surprised to find Oikawa standing right behind him. He wiped his eyes in a hurry, erasing all evidence as quickly as he could. But he did not know how long Oikawa had been standing there. “How did you get in?”

Oikawa smiled and sat next to Sugawara. Thankfully the stool could easily fit two butts on it. “Practice,” he chuckled, looking at Suga’s trembling hands. Oikawa carefully lowered his hands on top of them and squeezed. “You don’t have to hide from me, you know. I know the melody. I know the piano. I know your story.”

Suga laughed weakly, nodding his head. He squeezed back, enjoying the warmth that was radiating into his cold hands. They sat in silence for a long while. Until Sugawara decided to break the silence. “You and Hajime, huh? Finally.”

Oikawa nodded, gently letting his thumb slide against Suga’s knuckles. “Good sex,” he joked, celebrating silently when he saw a genuine smile slip on Suga’s lips. “I haven’t heard you play that melody in years. Did something happen?”

Suga stared at his hands that were covered in a warm embrace. “I met Asahi today,” he started to re-tell the events had happened earlier today, to the point where he had met Hajime at Oikawa’s door. “And well, then you saw me here. You broke into my home.”

“I have a key,” Oikawa reminded Sugawara and sighed quietly, thinking about what Sugawara had just told him. Maybe Daichi was serious about this. Maybe Daichi didn’t know what he wanted. Daichi didn’t know anything about the struggles Sugawara was going through. “I agree with that giant, you know.”

“Of course you do,” Sugawara huffed and smiled a little. He let out a big sigh. “I feel a little bit better now,” he admitted. “You do know that I love you, Tooru?”

Oikawa smacked his lips and got up from the piano stool. “Of course I do, Kou-chan. Despite our differences, we make a good team,” he agreed and walked to the kitchen. “Tea?”

“Please.”

 

* * *

 

Kuroo offered a smoke to Asahi. They were both standing outside of ‘The Wild Cat’. Asahi declined, not really wanting to fall back to his old habits. “I cried a little.”

“Which does not surprise me,” Kuroo said, lighting up his cigarette and relaxing after taking a few puffs. He looked through the window, looking at the corner table that was reserved for his squad only. Daichi. Noya. Tanaka. Kageyama and some others weren’t there today. “So? Did he promise anything?”

Asahi shook his head. “I feel like I might have blew it all up,” he admitted, feeling his heart breaking in two. Suga was still a close friend and Daichi was his current best friend.

Kuroo shrugged his shoulders. He felt like someone was staring at him. No doubt it was Nishinoya’s glare. “Only time will show,” he sighed quietly. “I don’t understand why he gave up that easily. I thought it was going well.”

“We all thought that,” Asahi admitted, thinking back to the time with Suga. Suga deserved all the love and happiness in the world. Daichi could easily give it to him. “Suga is beating himself over nothing,” he murmured quietly. Asahi thought six years would have changed something, but apparently it hadn’t.

“Why did you two broke up?” Kuroo asked as he stubbed out his cigarette. It was already dark in the streets. Maybe he should send the gang home for the night. It looked like it was going to rain.

Asahi grimaced. “His parents died and it was too much for him. We were also too much alike. Blaming ourselves. We were too soft,” he admitted, admiring the warm, soft glow of the street lights.

“And now you are together with Noya, right?” Kuroo asked.

Asahi choked on his spit and turned to look at Kuroo. “Wh-what? No,” he corrected Kuroo and tried to fight down a blush. “He’s always angry at me.”

“And that predatory look he’s giving right at this moment?” Kuroo asked with his other eyebrow raised up. “Is everyone in the Tattooed Crows dense idiots?” he continued asking and shook his head. “Kageyama, you, Daichi...”

“Kageyama?” Asahi asked with curious tone. Well now that was something he wanted to hear.

Kuroo rolled his eyes. “Whatever, let’s go back inside.”

 

* * *

 

“Are those... flowers?” Hinata asked, locking up the shop for the night. He had been extremely busy today and he didn’t need Kageyama’s annoying remarks right now. Except Kageyama was holding a small bouquet of irises and Hinata felt like his insides had soften a little. He knew. He just didn’t realize it yet.

Kageyama rolled his eyes and just forced him to take the flowers. “You know about flowers,” he started, looking away from Hinata’s face. “You know what those mean. Don’t play dumb, dumbass.”

Hinata smirked from behind the flowers. Of course he knew. He had seen Kageyama walk past the shop so many times within these weeks. Kageyama never came inside, but he paused for just a second. Maybe he gave him a small nod. Other times he just looked away and kept going. “Inspiration. Hope. Passion.”

Kageyama blushed and turned around to leave. “Have a good night.”

“You too,” Hinata grinned happily.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am not happy about this chapter. Or more like, I was not happy about Sugawara's past. It felt like no matter how many times I re-wrote it ended up the same. I could've given so much more. But maybe it's better this way. I don't know. I don't feel good about this chapter. I hope you guys will enjoy it nevertheless.


	6. Yellow Rose With Red Tips

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Nishinoya! You... You... I owe you some goddamn drinks. You...” he sniffled a little, suddenly feeling emotional. “You’re a true soldier.”

“Hinata! What are **those**!?” Sugawara gasped when he saw a beautiful bouquet of irises on their counter. “I hope these are for you and not for me,” he teased with a bright smile. Suga had a good idea who had given him these flowers. A very good idea. He gently poked the petals, enjoying Hinata’s blush to the maximum.

Hinata stuttered and nearly knocked over vase. Again. “Se-secret admirer, maybe?” he offered shyly, trying to focus on their task from yesterday. Cut the stems. Put the roses in the water. Repeat. “I-It doesn’t have a sender!”

Sugawara hummed in thought. “Is that so? Oh, but I feel like these flowers have Kageyama-kun’s touch to them, don’t you think?” he purred from the counter. Ah, he loved how Hinata tried to stay composed. Suga was a tiny bit of a sadist, just in these kinds of situations. “I think I saw you two yesterday.”

“You did?!” Hinata gasped, then realizing Suga had caught him. He scrunched his nose and turned his back to Sugawara. “You’re so mean, you know that?”

“I’m happy for you,” Sugawara said, letting go of the petals. He was happy for Hinata and Oikawa. Things were starting to look up for those two. Maybe Hinata could find something comforting about Kageyama. Hinata didn’t have it easy either. Oikawa would probably lessen his work amount now that Iwaizumi was going to stick around. Suga let out a small sigh. He was going to drown his thoughts with work from now on.

_“You do know, that Dai-chan could be good for you? You need to let it go,” Oikawa sighed quietly, giving Suga a nice cup of calming tea. “I know I threatened him a little, but... It was instinct.”_

_“I know your instincts,” Sugawara admitted, taking a careful sip. Tasted like chamomile and peppermint. It was probably the special blend Oikawa never took home with him. “It’s a pretty big step.”_

_“Just give him a chance.”_

_“I don’t think he even wants one,” Suga pointed out. He had not seen Daichi in a long time. Which was six weeks and three days._

_Oikawa shrugged his shoulders. “All I’m saying is to give him a chance. Go to the tattoo studio.”_

Sugawara came back from his dreamland when someone snapped fingers in front of his face. “Sorry, I was spacing out,” he laughed and took a good look at his customer. Suga blinked. He was probably shorter than Hinata. Suga wasn’t sure. “How can I help you?”

“I need you to drag your pretty ass to the Tattooed Crows. If you won’t come willingly, I will drag you there myself. Believe me, I am more than capable of doing that.”

Saying that Sugawara was confused would be an understatement. He scratched his cheek. “Why? I don’t need a tattoo.”

“You’re Suga, right?” he asked and looked around. To him, no one looked like an angel. Except Sugawara, who definitely looked like an angel to him. The shorty licked his lips and sighed loudly. “Look, I don’t care if your life is miserable. I don’t care if you used to sleep with Asahi-san. But I care about Daichi. He is not as tough as he looks like. He hurts too. Sometimes.”

Sugawara was staring. He just listened to the man talk. He had a lot to say, it seemed.

“Daichi-san... He... He had some tough things too. To go through. I don’t know what it is that makes your life miserable, but I know he would understand. Whether you have issues with your parents or you don’t accept yourself as who you are, he will understand. He will accept you as yourself. If you’re worried about something like that, there is no need. We all have shitty pasts in the Tattooed Crows. More or less. And I know Asahi-san shares some of the pain with you and I don’t like that he suffers because you’re still suffering about things from the past,” he took a deep breath and then sighed. “I’ll walk you there, okay? ”

“I’m sorry,” Sugawara said and laid a hand on the boy’s shoulder. The boy seemed so small, but he had military tags around his neck, and he squeezed his shoulder a little bit harder. Suga could clearly see what was written in his tags. His name. His bloodtype. His Social Security number. His religion. The other tag had been scratched badly. Did he serve? Was he a veteran? Retired? Did he injure himself? What had this boy seen in this world that not many had seen? No wonder he had such powerful words. “I’m sorry I have caused you trouble Nishinoya-san,” he said sincerely, ducking his head a little.

Nishinoya reached for his tags when he saw Suga’s eyes land on them and squeezed them into his fist. “Like I said, we all have a past. But if you don’t want to come, I also understand that. Daichi-san... He fucked it up, didn’t he?”

Sugawara cleared his throat and shook his head. Suddenly his voice seemed weak and he did not want to test it. He motioned Nishinoya to follow him. They stopped in front small display of flowers in vases of different size. “I didn’t know roses had that many different colours,” Noya blurted out in wonder as Suga was trying to pick one from the vases.

“They all have different meanings,” Sugawara said, picking out a rose that was yellow, adorned with red tips. It was just a one small rose, but it meant everything to Suga right now. He turned to Nishinoya and gave it to him. “This is for Daichi,” he said seriously, making sure Noya would understand. “He might not understand it immediately, but he will come here if he decides to follow it. I’m not ready to walk to his territory just yet.”

Nishinoya grinned widely, looking at the beautiful rose between his fingers. “Can’t you tell me what this means?” he asked with so much eagerness that Suga just had to whisper it into his ear. It made Nishinoya blush a little. “Can’t I have a flower too...” he muttered and was ready to leave when Sugawara stopped him and slipped a small, violet anemone behind Noya’s ear. “It brings luck and protects against evil,” Suga said, giving Nishinoya a brilliant smile. “Make sure Daichi gets the rose.”

Nishinoya saluted and winked. “Will do, Suga-san.”

 

* * *

 

“And he didn’t tell you what this means?” Daichi asked incredulously, looking at the rose like it was offending him. He replaced the dead tulip with the gorgeous rose and just stared at it. Everyone was staring at it. “What if it means ‘fuck off’ and I’m just casually keeping it on the front desk?”

Asahi gave Daichi a strained smile. “I don’t think any flowers would tell you to do that. Especially not a rose,” he said, poking at the petals curiously. If only Suga had been interested in horticulture back in highschool. He might have been able to help his friend. “Is Kageyama out today? Maybe he knows. He seems smart.”

Daichi snorted. “He’s not bookish. If anyone knows anything it would be Tsukishima,” he said and was tempted to just google what that flower means. But one flower sometimes had million different meanings and he could never figure out what Suga wanted it to mean to him.

“But he’s out of town with Yamaguchi,” Tanaka reminded somewhere from the studio. He had a client right now. It was a wonder to see Tanaka in every once in a while. “I think flower symbolism is bullshit.”

Nishinoya puffed his chest. He was extremely proud of the anemone he got from the wonderful Suga-san. “And your date with Kiyoko-san was also bullshit!”

Daichi pouted, taking out his cellphone. “Is it cheating if I just google it?” he asked from Asahi, trying to make sure that Suga would not eat him alive if he had googled the answer.

Asahi scratched his neck. “Why are you asking me?” he asked, leaning against the counter. He was sure Daichi looked like he could piss himself right now. From fear of royally fucking everything up again. When Daichi gave him a pointed look, Asahi relented. Right, he was the ex-boyfriend who was supposed to know everything about Suga. “It is cheating. However, I feel like Suga might actually see it as an effort to do something about your relationship which is non-existent at the moment,” Asahi answered, pushing himself away from the front. “Anyway, I have client coming in five. Figure it out.”

Daichi was not all that happy with the answer so he just kept glaring at his phone. Fine. He would google it like his life depended on it. It took him a solid fifteen minutes to do that. Because Daichi’s connection was just as shitty as his current love life.

“Ah-ha!”

Nishinoya turned around. “You know, that is cheating. It would have been the same as me telling you what it really means. I knew, okay, I knew,” he said, stuffing a lollipop into his mouth in frustration. Well, maybe it was better sooner than later.

“A yellow rose with red petal tips could indicate that you are falling into love from friendship or a plain indication of falling in love with the person you are presenting them to,” Daichi read straight from his phone and a big smile was starting to slip on his face. “Nishinoya! You... You... I owe you some goddamn drinks. You...” he sniffled a little, suddenly feeling emotional. “You’re a true soldier.”

Asahi looked up from his sketches. His client was also mildly confused by this exchange between Noya and Daichi. They returned to their task as Nishinoya and Daichi were giving each other bro hugs.

“Gosh, Daichi-san,” Noya laughed and punched Daichi’s arm. “I did retire just to save your lousy love life, you know,” he joked, patting his back. “Now. Go get ‘em. Before someone else does. God knows Suga’s a keeper.”

Daichi quickly collected his wallet from behind the counter and rushed out of the shop, thanking Nishinoya on his way out. He ran. He ran as fast he could to the Sugary Flower. When he barged inside, demanding to know where Suga was, Hinata nearly pissed himself and knocked over dozen of vases. Daichi luckily had quick reflexes and he caught the boy before anything could happen.

“Where’s Suga?” Daichi asked when Hinata had finally calmed down from his scare. He also had a need to apologize to Kageyama’s future boyfriend but he had more pressing matters at hand.

“On a lunch break, in the break room,” Hinata said, blinking in confusion. The tattooed guys sure were intense. One after another. “Uh, go through the back door and take the first door on the right,” he said, but Daichi was almost gone before he even finished. When the back door closed, Hinata sighed loudly. “You’re welcome!” he yelled after him in an irritated tone.

Sugawara was just about ready to have a relaxed lunch break with his super spicy mapo tofu, when the door to the break room opened with a loud bang. He dropped his fork in shock, staring at Daichi’s panting figure at the doorway. Well, that was unexpected. “Is something on fire?” he asked, getting a little bit worried when Daichi didn’t speak anything for a long while.

Daichi walked to Suga who was standing in the small kitchen with a small pink container in his hands. “The rose,” he said, trying to remember the great speech he had rehearsed while running here. Now he completely forgot it. “It...”

Suga tried to hide his smile behind the container now. He was failing miserably. “Look,” he then sighed and put his lunch on the kitchen counter behind him. They needed to talk this out or this would never work.

“I am not Asahi,” Daichi then said, silencing Suga. He needed to talk first. “And I am sorry I was so unsure about everything. I am sorry that I wasn’t more confident,” Daichi furrowed his eyebrows, staring into Sugawara’s hazel eyes. “I don’t know why neither of us had enough courage to pursue this, but I am not ready to give up just yet. I don’t know much about you. I know that your best friend will kill me if I screw up. I know that Asahi and you share a past. I know that your cat is a goddamn lunatic and I know that there is something dark about you,” Daichi said, swallowing thickly, his fingers itching to touch Suga. “But we can figure this all out together. Little by little. So... Can you give me a chance to make your life a little bit less miserable?”

Sugawara stared back, listening quietly what Daichi had to say. He then motioned them both sit on a small sofa that was in their break room. “I lost my parents when I was seventeen,” he started to explain once they had both sat down. Suga looked into distance. “I blame myself for it, really. There is no way around it,” he said, feeling Daichi’s hand squeeze his hand just a little for reassurance. “My parents were very homophobic and when they found out about Asahi, my mother was enraged. Father wanted to take me to a doctor and fix me, like it was some kind of disease,” Suga explained, his heart missing a few beats every now and then. It made him feel sick to his stomach. “I ran out of my home and my mother followed me outside. She wasn’t looking and... She-” he breathed, trying to even out his heartbeat. He did not need a stroke right now. “She got hit by a truck. I tried to warn her, but...” Suga shook his head. “My father was devastated. He blamed me. I blamed myself. Two months went by and I also lost my father to sadness and depression,” he murmured quietly, fighting back tears that had started to from. Suga had never told about this openly to anyone, except for Oikawa and Asahi who were connected to him at the time everything happened.

Daichi could easily connect the dots now; why Asahi and Suga broke up, why Suga was having difficulty to be confident in his own skin. “Is that why you and Asahi...?” he wanted to confirm just in case.

“It definitely played a part why it didn’t work out any more,” Sugawara sighed quietly, staring at the atrocious rug under the coffee table. They needed a new one. “Asahi is a lot more fragile than I am. It didn’t bode well with him. We eventually just drifted apart when we both kept blaming ourselves,” he explained, trying to will the heavy feeling on his chest disappear. Did Daichi think the same? Was this too much for him?

“I can’t imagine how you feel,” Daichi finally said, not wanting to lie. He really couldn’t imagine the pain Sugawara was carrying with him every day. “But I know my parents would adore you to the moon and back,” Daichi said, trying to console Suga somehow. Make him feel like Daichi didn’t want to let him go no matter how hard this could get. “I don’t know how it feels to have parents not supporting you. I don’t know how it feels like to lose a parent,” he murmured. “But I lost a little sister seven years ago. It wasn’t my fault. It was no one’s fault. No one ever blamed for what happened.”

Suga turned his head to look at Daichi. Maybe it was time for him to listen too. Suga placed his hand on top of Daichi’s that was holding onto his like a lifeline. “What happened to her?” he whispered gently.

“She was only ten when it happened,” Daichi said, licking his lips, trying to remember the hazy details as best as he could. “It was winter. Lots of snow and ice. She had never gone ice skating before and we lived right by this gorgeous lake. My parents still live there. It had frozen over, like it usually did every year. So I took her there. We skated quite sometime until I lost sight of her. She had skated all the way to the middle of the lake where the ice wasn’t nearly as thick. She tripped. The ice cracked beneath her and she...”

Sugawara didn’t need to hear more to know what had happened. Daichi’s hands were trembling from sadness, maybe also a little bit of anger. It made Sugawara feel like he hadn’t talked about this to many either. So he brought Daichi’s hands to his lips and kissed them gently, making the trembling weaken just a little bit.

“I told her not to skate too far. I tried to help her, but I would have fallen in too,” Daichi whispered, remembering how his sister had screamed him for help. He had tried everything. He had called for help. He had tried to reach here without breaking the ice even more. “I was scared of ice for a very long time,” Daichi said, revealing a tattoo of a snowflake on his chest, over his heart. “I didn’t play hockey for years even though I used to love it. I couldn’t watch other people skating over the lake because I was afraid they would fall in. I was angry that my parents never scolded me, never even hinted that it was my fault.”

They both sat in silence for quite a while, absorbing the stories they had just heard from each other. It was almost the exact opposite. But yet it was quite much a like. Sugawara heard a small knock on the break room’s door and he suffered a small sigh. He didn’t have a chance to finish his lunch. “Yes?” he asked, watching Hinata poke his head into the room with a sheepish smile.

Hinata felt bad for disturbing Daichi and Suga, but at this point he didn’t really have much of a choice. “The suppliers came and they’re waiting for you at the back. Also there’s a couple who would like to look at some wedding flowers and they have a huge order already. I need you at the front and the back. At the same time.”

Daichi snorted a little. He tried to imagine Suga cloning into two and magically taking care of everything. However he could already see the stress on Suga’s face, so he tried not to imagine cloning Suga any further. “Can I help?”

Sugawara was already up, trying to tidy himself up a little. His gears were turning way too slowly right now. “Re-heat my tofu?” Suga smiled apologetically, already heading towards the door. “Oh, and Daichi,” he said when Hinata had already disappeared from the door. “Date on Saturday?”

Daichi beamed. “Of course.”

 

* * *

 

“You brought your date to the Wild Cat? On a first date?” Kuroo asked incredulously, looking between Suga and Daichi. He was not a love expert but this was not how he would have planned his first date with someone. “Why? And please tell how this is a date if everyone is in here?”

Daichi looked around to their usual table and he could see a bunch of tattooed idiots sitting there, grinning like they were owning the place. “It was supposed to be just the two of us. In here. In peace. Talking. Alone.”

Sugawara couldn’t help but giggle. “Well, Nishinoya...” he started to explain, but Kuroo already knew. He knew how Nishinoya was probably behind all of this, because Nishinoya was a curious little shit. Kuroo cleared his throat. “Tonight’s on me then. Please don’t drink yourselves under the table,” Kuroo said, patting Sugawara’s shoulder. “You don’t need to explain Noya’s actions. I know.”

Daichi gave a very annoyed look at Noya’s direction when he waved them to join their table. Suga and Daichi decided not to go there just yet. Sugawara wasn’t ready for them yet, Daichi thought. “So... He’s a soldier?” Suga asked, giving a pointed look at Noya’s general direction. “He seemed a bit...”

“Oh, Noya?” Daichi asked and continued when Suga nodded. “Navy SEALs. Special Operations Task Forces. Commander of Team Three. Lost his left leg. Medical retirement. Seen some things I’d rather not see,” he sighed quietly, thanking Kuroo for the beers. “He saved his entire team by losing a leg. I think it’s pretty admirable.”

“He really wasn’t joking about dragging my ass to the studio then,” Suga hummed in thought, eyes drifting automatically towards Nishinoya’s left leg he couldn’t properly see because of the long jeans he was wearing. “Does everyone at your studio have sad past?”

Daichi laughed a little and shook his head. “Tanaka doesn’t. He is just really, really awful with women,” he joked, fond smile on his lips. “Kageyama was just... a teenage delinquent. Not a terribly bad one, but you know, the usual. Street fights and so on. Parents didn’t really care. He was extremely talented so I took him in. I don’t know why Hinata though...”

Sugawara took a sip from his beer, thinking the exact same thing. “Maybe it’s because Hinata is so bright,” he wondered aloud, giving Daichi a brilliant smile. “What about the bartender?” Suga whispered, not wanting to alert Kuroo about his question.

“Him? Please, he’s just a tame little house cat. He doesn’t work with me as you can see.”

“Oh? So only badasses can work with you, huh?” Suga joked good-naturedly. He saw Nishinoya wave at them again. Persistent. Suga turned to look at Daichi. “It’s good to have friends. I don’t think I would be here if I didn’t have Tooru as my friend. He likes to keep me on my toes.”

Daichi hummed. “Want to join them?”

Three hours later Nishinoya was still going strong about his stories in the military training. Asahi was telling how he had met Daichi in college. Tanaka was nearly asleep from drinking too much. Kuroo was still giving snide remarks behind the bar counter. Suga’s stomach was hurting from so much laughing. Daichi was happier than ever.

“Maybe I should get a tattoo.”

Everyone on the table was suddenly very awake and staring at Sugawara in awe. The whole gang erupted into loud cheering and taking bets who would have the honour to make Suga’s first tattoo. Lot of the bets went to Daichi. Noya was insistent on taking the honour and making Suga’s first tattoo. Daichi was definitely disagreeing. Asahi tried to defuse the situation with Sugawara.

It was a great night.

 

* * *

 

“Are you sure Ryu will get home safely?” Suga asked as they were standing in front of Suga’s funky door. It really needed some repairing. Tanaka was barely able to stand up when they had left the bar for the night.

Daichi nodded. “I sent a text to his older sister before we left. He’ll be fine,” he said, smile dropping when Suga finally got the door open and was ready to go in. “Hey... Was today okay?”

Suga paused. He turned around to look at Daichi with a mischievous smile. “I haven’t had this much fun in years,” he said, giving a small peck on Daichi’s cheek. “I would ask you to come inside but-”

“It’s too soon?” Daichi finished with a soft smile. He leaned a little bit closer, kissing Suga gently in the dim hallway. “Was that too soon?”

Suga touched his lips after Daichi had pulled away. It was like a small spark. It warmed up his entire chest with so much affection he couldn’t handle it. “If I had known you were such a good kisser, I would have kissed you the moment I first talked to you.”

Daichi gave him a one last hug and then turned around. “Good night.”

“Good night,” Suga smiled like giddy teen aged girl and closed the door behind him. He walked all the way to his bedroom, sighing happily. When he turned on the lights, he couldn’t help but notice one, lonely Stargazer laid on his bed. Next to it was a note from Oikawa.

_‘Dai-chan wanted me to hide this in your room. Kiss him for me, will you? - Tooru'_


	7. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “It’s not about that,” Asahi smiled a little. “We’re just both healing now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now this story is closing it's curtains. Anti-climatic, I KNOW. I wanted to write smut, like, really badly but I'm so bad at it that I just decided to end it with fluff and happiness. 
> 
> I might do one-shots of others like Nishinoya/Asahi and Oikawa/Iwaizumi and Kageyama/Hinata. But right now I have a KageHina one shot coming up. 
> 
> Thank you for sticking around. *bows*

“Will it hurt?” Sugawara asked with a sheepish smile. He was getting nervous when Asahi had laid him down on his stomach without a shirt on. Suga felt Asahi rubbing something into his back gently. Probably some kind of rubbing alcohol.

Asahi let his flick towards Daichi for a second, who gave him a thumbs up from the front desk. “Definitely at first,” he said with a small laugh. “But your skin will go numb at some point,” Asahi told Suga, transferring the picture into Suga’s skin with precision. “Are you sure you want me to do this?”

Sugawara gave a small nod, trying to relax on the tattoo bench. “Daichi understands,” he said quietly, closing his eyes. He had been thinking about getting a tattoo for real after his first night with Daichi. His skin was full of untold stories and it was so fascinating, that Suga wanted to have some of his story written down too. “Besides, he will have his chance, I’m sure,” he drawled.

Asahi blushed a little, adding some ointment on the skin. “Right,” he murmured quietly. “I’m going to do the lining first, which is going to take a while. Tell me if you need a break. We’ll be here all day so...” Asahi said, carefully piercing Suga’s skin with the needle. “You might want to walk around and catch something to eat also.”

Daichi walked over and sat down on the chair next to Asahi and Suga. He wanted to see how this would turn out. “You’re really taking it like a man. Spine tattoos are pretty painful,” he hummed in thought, watching Asahi work. Asahi truly was one of their best. “Just tell if you need anything, alright Koushi?”

Suga hummed something that sounded like ‘okay’, but Daichi wasn’t too sure. He just smiled and patted Suga’s hand. “It’s gonna be great.”

Two hours later Suga decided that he really needed to get something to eat, so Nishinoya volunteered to get something light from the nearby restaurant. “It really burns,” Suga realized once he was allowed to walk around a little. “How much longer do you think it’ll take?”

Daichi hummed, looking at the skillful artwork. “Well, if it really hurts, we should probably let it be and continue on a later time,” he admitted, slipping on a disposable glove. Daichi felt around Suga’s swollen spine carefully. “As long as your skin is still taking the ink in, it should be okay. I’d say... Three to four hours since Asahi is a perfectionist.”

“I heard that,” Asahi said, going for the small mini fridge and taking out two cans of soda. He gave Suga the other one. “Say, Daichi. Would you think it would be better if we move the words to the lower back?” he asked carefully. “You didn’t have an idea, did you, Suga?”

Suga shook his head. “I just want that the words are part of that tattoo. Doesn’t matter where,” he said taking the can from Asahi. He pressed it against his forehead. Even though it was winter, Suga felt like he was on fire.

“Oh, I know,” Daichi said and pointed Suga’s shoulder blades. “How about you put the first word here, and the second one here?” he suggested to Asahi who was nodding in agreement.

By the time Suga had lunch and resumed to the tattoo bench, Noya was jumping around in excitement, not able to sit still. “I never would’ve guessed you’d choose the Glass Heart,” Noya laughed, staring at the tattoo wide-eyed. “It looks so good.”

“Don’t jinx it, Yuu,” Suga laughed softly, feeling awfully tired. The tattooing itself didn’t even hurt that much any more. “Can I sleep?”

Asahi rolled his eyes. “If you don’t trash around, sure.”

 

* * *

 

“It’s gorgeous,” Suga breathed, looking at the tattoo that was now adorning his spine. It was like his skin was now a piece of art. The tattoo started from his lower back, climbing all the way between his shoulder blades. The main focus on the tattoo was the Stargazer lily. It looked a little bit like the colour was bleeding out from the petals and the stem that was travelling down his spine was charred, bleeding black ink from it. “It’s... Art,” he murmured, looking at the two small words decorating his shoulder blades. They were barely legible, but Suga thought it was just perfect.

“Have hope, huh?” Asahi smiled, finishing the tattoo by putting ointment on it and wrapping it neatly. “I feel like I have written those words to someone else before too.”

“Do you now?” Suga laughed, wanting to stretch so badly. However, stretching hurt his skin, so he decided against it. “Daichi, I’m done,” he sing sung and walked to the front desk with a big smile on his face.

Daichi kissed Suga’s cheek. “Good job, both of you,” he laughed, typing something on the computer and then turning it off. “I’ll take Koushi home now,” Daichi told Asahi and started to dress up for the crisp winter evening with Sugawara. “See you tomorrow.”

Asahi smiled, almost jealous that Daichi and Suga had found each other. Almost. Maybe he would find love too someday. Suga and Daichi were perfect for each other. “Drive safe. It’s slippery. See you tomorrow.”

“Thank you Asahi. This meant the world to me,” Suga said just before the door closed.

Asahi was sure his heart was breaking. “Anytime,” he whispered quietly to no one in particular. It was a healing process for both of them. The tattoo. He felt Noya poke his side. “I’m fine.”

“He’s something, isn’t he?” Noya sighed quietly, watching as Suga and Daichi drove off. “I can understand why you dated him in high school.”

“It’s not about that,” Asahi smiled a little. “We’re just both healing now.”

“That’s good.”

 

* * *

 

Sugawara and Daichi were lying around on Sunday morning in Suga’s apartment. Suga hummed quietly, enjoying the lazy atmosphere and Daichi’s quite bare, muscular chest. Tinkerbell was lying at the end of the bed they were situated in. Everything felt so perfect. “Are you going to sell the house?” Daichi suddenly asked, breaking the silence.

Sugawara buried his face into Daichi’s chest. “Yeah,” he said quietly, keeping his eyes closed. Suga felt Daichi’s fingers threading through his hair. “I’m going to sell the piano too,” Suga added, lifting his head to kiss Daichi’s lips softly. “Even though you hate that idea.”

Daichi sighed contently. Suga’s kisses were the perfect medicine for anything. He nudged Suga a little and Suga lifted his leg over Daichi’s stomach. Suga was glued to him. “I like when you play it on Sundays,” Daichi complained, but he was silenced by Suga’s kisses. “I like that too...”

Suga chuckled and laid kisses on Daichi’s chest too. They had been dating for a year now. Not everything had been easy. Suga had nightmares sometimes. At times Suga was feeling so happy that he was guilty. Daichi was always there. Always. “Move in with me once everything is over.”

Daichi hummed, as if he had to think about the answer. “Well... I don’t know,” he pondered dramatically, laughing when Suga hit his face with a pillow. “I do like Tinkerbell.”

“You did not just say that,” Suga laughed, hitting Daichi’s face with a pillow again. “You like Tinkerbell? Please,” he laughed, poking the ribs of his boyfriend. “You’re such a bad liar.”

Daichi laughed, pulling Suga into a kiss. “I know. But that is exactly why you love me.”

**"IS MY TEA IN HERE?! KOU-CHAN!?"**

Daichi and Suga both groaned out loud. Someone needed to steal Oikawa's spare key and Daichi was not going to push his luck with that.

 


End file.
